


The Game

by hannah_ashley



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-24
Updated: 2016-06-16
Packaged: 2018-06-10 08:50:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 3
Words: 27,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6949351
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannah_ashley/pseuds/hannah_ashley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In 1996, a group of teenagers begin a new year at Hogwarts. </p>
<p>Haley and Alyson are an unlikely pair of friends. Haley is a pureblood Slytherin, and Alyson is a Muggle-born Gryffindor. After a series of breakups, Haley starts to date Adam, who is a staunch supporter of You-Know-Who, while Alyson and known pureblood elitist Dustin unexpectedly begin seeing each other. These relationships cause more joy and heartache than anyone would have anticipated during and after You-Know-Know's second rise.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Adam's sister Mary begins to see the true horrors of her brother's beliefs while dealing with her own affectionate feelings for people she knows their family would disapprove of, and the group's friends Lidiane and Eric deal with the consequences of their friends' actions while trying to navigate their own lives, which end up intertwining with Mary's life in unexpected ways.</p>
<p>What starts as typical teenage drama quickly unfolds into something far more serious. Set in a time when pureblood fanaticism was especially present, <i>The Game</i> follows the stories of a group of friends during adolescence and adulthood.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, everybody! We hope you enjoy this story. We had _a lot_ of fun writing it! We will update every Sunday or Monday night.
> 
> If you have any questions regarding the rating and warnings attached to this story, please feel free to message us at hannah.ashley9496@gmail.com! We don't want to make anyone uncomfortable.

**1 September 1996**

Alyson walked on to the Hogwarts Express. She was looking for her friends. She hadn’t been able to find any of them at Platform 9 ¾, which wasn’t very unusual considering how the station was always filled with students and their families. After passing by multiple students in the train’s corridor, she finally saw her friend Haley. She smiled. She hadn’t seen Haley through the entire summer holiday. Alyson walked up to her friend, whose back was towards her, and tapped her shoulder. “Hey!” she said happily.

Haley turned around to see who it was. She smiled a bit when she saw it was Alyson. “Oh, hey! Have you seen any empty compartments? I know there are some where the Slytherins hang out, but I’m pretty sure you don’t want to go up there. There’s one right here too, but it has a first year in it, and he won’t leave,” she added with an angry glance into the compartment they were standing in front of.

Alyson was amused by Haley’s annoyance towards the first year. It was so like her. “Yeah, I passed one a couple compartments back. You can invite Mary or Dustin if you want to.” Eric, Alyson’s boyfriend, was nowhere to be found. At this point, Alyson was hoping he’d find her.

"Yeah, when I see them I'll let them know…if I see them," Haley said as they headed towards one of the empty ones. "Anyway, how was your summer?"

"It was good. Filled with lots of family time. It was nice to get to see my parents and all of my siblings again. How was your summer?" Alyson had five siblings, three of which were out of Hogwarts already. They entered the compartment and sat down, closing the door behind them.

"Eh, it was okay, I guess. I spent most of it home alone because my parents went to Spain without me,” Haley said sourly.

"That really sucks. I'm sorry," Alyson apologized. She felt bad for Haley. She knew what her parents were like.

“Dustin and Mary came over for a little while, though," Haley replied with a shrug. She was an only child whose parents started to leave her alone for long periods of time as soon as she was old enough. "Speaking of which, where is everyone? It's getting pretty late, isn't it?" She stood up and opened the door just to run into Eric.

When Alyson saw Eric, her face lit up. She didn't get to see him much over the summer because he lived two hours away, though thankfully his parents installed a Muggle phone so he could make phone calls to his friends that also had a Muggle phone. She stood up. "Hey!" she said happily. She was smiling brightly.

"Hey!" Eric replied with a small smile of his own. He gave Alyson a hug after he walked into the compartment. She gave him a quick kiss before they let go, then they sat down next to each other. Alyson grabbed his hand then laced their fingers together.

Haley sat back down and tried not to roll her eyes. She'd never been a huge fan of Eric, but she never really said anything because Alyson obviously liked him. "Hello, Eric. How are you?" she said, not very conversationally.

Eric had always known Haley wasn't particularly fond of him, though he wasn't sure why because he never did anything to her. Oh well, he wasn't very keen on her either; she seemed stuck up and a bit self-centered. "Hi, Haley. I'm good. And you?" His tone was just as lacking in fondness as Haley’s.

Just then, Mary knocked on the compartment door before opening it up.

"Mary!" Haley exclaimed excitedly. She quickly stood up and hugged her best friend, ignoring Eric in the process. "I was starting to think you were going to take a year off. Have you seen Dustin anywhere?"

Alyson had to suppress the urge to sigh when Haley brought up Dustin. She had mixed feelings about him. He could be incredibly sweet and charming at times, yet at other times he could be a manipulative arse. She was kind of amazed he and Haley were still a couple, but in a way they worked together.

Mary came in to the compartment and behind her was Lidiane, who was Alyson’s best friend besides Haley. "No," Mary said as an answer to Haley’s question, "but I found her and she kind of tagged along to help find you."

Alyson stood up once Mary and Lidiane were in the compartment. She was happy to see them both. All thoughts of Dustin had vanished from her mind. "Hey!" she said, giving Lidiane a hug, and then Mary. "I missed you both."

Haley sat back down in a huff. It was now two minutes until time to leave, and her boyfriend still hadn't showed up yet. Mary sat next to her and said, "He'll show up. He always does.” She shifted the topic. “So, Alyson, Eric, I see you two made it through the summer. Did you get to spend time together?"

Alyson nodded eagerly while Eric just nodded casually. "Yeah, we got to spend a bit of time together, which was nice. His parents also installed a Muggle phone for him, which was really sweet, because that meant we could talk to each other on the phone. How was your summer, Mary?" she asked. 

"Oh, not bad. I got to see Haley and Dustin some. My mom took me to America for a couple of weeks, too. That was interesting." She made a weird face that suggested she wouldn't be going back.

"Huh. I've always wanted to go to America," Alyson commented.

At that moment, the train started to move. They all stood up and waved to their parents through the window. As their parents faded from view, the door to their compartment opened. It was Dustin. Haley all but tackled him. "I thought you were lost! What took you so long? Where were you?" she demanded. He hugged her back then sat down next to her.

"I was taking care of some things," he said dismissively.

Mary snorted. "You mean you were telling some first years horror stories about Hogwarts before we even left the station?" 

He just shrugged his shoulders before looking at everyone else in the compartment. "Hey, Alyson. How are you doing? Lidiane. Eric."

"I'm good, thank you. And you?" Alyson said politely, a polite smile accompanying her tone. Eric and Lidiane just nodded in return. Alyson was by far on better terms with Dustin than either of them were, though their relationship was very strained. Really, the only people in their little group from different houses who were truly friends were Haley and Alyson. Alyson, Lidiane, and Eric were all Gryffindors and best friends. Haley, Mary, and Dustin belonged to Slytherin and were also best friends. In fact, they had been friends before Hogwarts.

Alyson's friends weren’t huge fans of Haley or Dustin, but Mary was always nice. Dustin didn't like any of the Gryffindors, but his best friends did, so he tolerated their do-good attitudes.

Just then, a couple of first years slid open the compartment doors. They had been chatting and laughing, but their eyes widened when they saw the teenagers sitting in the compartment. "Sorry!" the smallest one apologized. "We thought you were some other people, sorry."

"Do we look like a bunch of brats who don't know how to knock on a door before entering?" Haley asked rudely.

"Sorry!" one of the other first years squeaked.

"It's okay," Lidiane said kindly. She gave the first year a smile. "I hope you're able to find your friends."

"Good luck!" Alyson chimed in. She remembered being a nervous little first year, but she at least had several older siblings to help her around at first.

"Yeah, it looks like you're going to need it," Dustin added with a smirk. Haley smiled under the protection of her hand.

"Don't be a jerk, Dustin," Alyson said to him with a bit of a glare.

"Thank you," the first years said, looking a little nervous. One of them started to close the compartment door.

"Did I say you could leave yet?" Dustin asked the smallest first year. Alyson's input had made him mad. They stopped in their tracks.

"I-I-"

"Are you Muggle-born?" Haley asked.

Alyson glared at Haley. Had she forgotten Alyson was Muggle-born? Unfortunately, Haley had a tendency to sometimes show the prejudices against Muggle-borns that seemed to be so commonly shared among Slytherins. Alyson was an exception in Haley’s eyes for some reason.

"I am," the smallest one answered innocently.

Alyson stood up, angry with both Haley and Dustin. "That's cool, I am too.” She gave the first year a smile before turning to Dustin and Haley. "I'm switching carts, I don't want to sit with some of the people here," she said coolly. She started to exit the compartment. Eric and Lidiane followed her.

Haley stood up too. "All I did was ask a question! It's not like I was going to say anything about it. You never gave me a chance! Besides, I only asked because it was kind of like a giant red bullseye in his head, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't reading it wrong!"

"Why does it even matter?" Alyson asked, her tone one of annoyance. She didn't believe Haley's question was innocent for a second. To an outsider it might seem she jumped to conclusions, but she knew Haley. "You weren't just asking, you were going to make some derogatory comment," Alyson snapped. The first years walked away, feeling awkward and intimidated.

Haley rolled her eyes out of disbelief. "Oh yeah? When was the last time I said anything derogatory towards you? It's been at least a couple of months! Cut me some slack, I've always thought I was better than y-" she stopped and covered her mouth, and her eyes got big. Dustin had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Mary's jaw dropped. Haley uncovered her mouth. "Alyson...that's not what I meant..."

Haley's words immediately stung Alyson. She had to use all of her will power to prevent her eyes from tearing up on the spot. "Sure it isn't," she said coldly. She walked all the way out of the compartment and slammed the door closed. She was so mad, but she was also so upset. Her lip began to tremble.

"Alyson, are you-" Eric began, but he was cut off.

"Let's just go," Alyson said sharply, though her voice was a little shaky. She began to walk down the aisle looking for another compartment, not really caring who they had to share it with.

They eventually found a compartment that had a couple of other Gryffindors they were acquainted with and joined them. Eric held Alyson’s hand and tried to make her feel better. Even he was offended by what Haley had said. Alyson was appreciative of Eric’s gesture. Despite the fact Haley’s words were the primary focus of Alyson’s thoughts, in the back of her mind she realized she usually was the one that initiated the hand-holding between her and Eric...well, all of the physical contact, really. But she was too upset about Haley to dwell on that fact for very long. She eventually began to feel a little bit better once she got into a good conversation with Eric, Lidiane, and the other Gryffindors.

While their compartment was conversing, Eric also noticed for the first time that he never initiated physical contact with Alyson. It felt kind of weird, but not really bad. They had been doing it for so long that their hands kind of fit together. Unlike Alyson, he dwelled on the topic.

After the conversation had been going on for a while and Alyson was mostly just listening, she began to think about Eric again. She wondered why she was always the one to initiate things. Maybe he was just shy...no, that didn't seem to be a good explanation. Eric was somewhat quiet, but certainly not shy. Maybe he was just shy with physical contact? She decided she'd talk to him about it sometime tonight or tomorrow, once they were back at school.

 

\---

 

Meanwhile, Haley was mad about what had happened between her and Alyson. She was sitting with her arms crossed. Dustin had busted out laughing as soon as Alyson left, completely shocked that Haley would say something like that. Mary, on the other hand, was mad at Haley.

"A couple of months since you last called her a Mudblood? Jesus, Haley, that's not that long. Why do you think you're so much better than her?" she asked, annoyed with her best friend.

"It's been years since I called her a Mudblood! Sometimes, phrases just slip that are kind of derogatory towards Muggle-borns...and I meant to say I was raised to think a certain way. I don't think I'm better than her, although I do think I could have handled that situation better than she did, had it been reversed," Haley said haughtily. "I'll apologize when we get to school. Maybe she'll have cooled down enough to explain."

"She did overreact a bit," Mary agreed sympathetically. "Sorry for accusing you of thinking you're better than Alyson, though you have to admit, you do act that way sometimes. I'm sure she'll accept your apology. You guys are friends." She smiled a little.

 

\---

 

The train finally came to a stop and everyone went in the direction of the thestral-drawn carriages. Haley sought Alyson out through the masses of students before she could get on one. Alyson nearly turned her back to Haley but decided against it. She wanted to see what Haley had to say.

"Look, I know what I said was stupid. It slipped out. But it really wasn't what I meant to say. I mean...you know how I was raised, and what I've been conditioned to think. I don't think I'm any better than you. You were right, though, I was about to go off on that first year. I got in the moment, and I'm sorry. For everything."

Alyson listened to Haley's apology, nodding her head a little bit. Her anger and hurt feelings began to dissolve with each passing word. "It's okay," she replied once Haley was done speaking. "I overreacted a little. I know how you were raised, and you just got back from being with your parents all summer. I should have been more understanding. I'm sorry about that. Shall we put this behind us?" She smiled a little bit.

Haley smiled back. "I was hoping you'd say that. Here, I forgot to give you this. I saw it when I went to visit Draco over the break and thought you would like it," she said with a shrug. She pulled out a gold chain with a small crystal star on the end of it. "It's supposed to be a good luck charm if you share it with your best friend," she said, as she pulled one out of her shirt.

Alyson smiled again. She felt touched that Haley would give her something intended for a best friend. "Thank you," she said as she gave Haley a hug. She took the necklace and put it on then tucked it under her shirt. "Here's to a good fifth year at Hogwarts," she declared happily.

"Cheers!" Haley added. All their friends climbed into one of the carriages that would take them up to Hogwarts

 

\---

 

They went to the feast, which went well as usual. Before they knew it, it was late evening. Alyson and Eric were hanging out together in an empty classroom, a suggestion Alyson had made so they could have some privacy. Lidiane had gone to bed early due to a headache.

"Hey, can I talk to you about something?" Alyson asked him, slightly nervous. They were sitting next to each other at adjacent desks with their chairs pushed back.

"Sure, anything," Eric replied, sort of relieved that she had initiated the important talk they both needed to have.

"I mean... I'm probably just imagining things, I'm sorry if this offends you," Alyson apologized in advance, looking away for a second before looking back at him, "but I... well, I feel like I put forward most of the effort into this relationship, especially with stuff like…um, like physical stuff, like holding hands and kissing, and...well, I was just wondering why?" She nervously bit her lower lip.

Now it was Eric’s turn to look away. He thought about lying and saying he was just shy, but she knew better. The truth was going to hurt her, though. "Alyson... I just... we've been together for a while, and I mean, you're cool. I like hanging out and things. It's just that sometimes when we're holding hands and kissing and stuff, it just doesn't feel right. I just do it because you want to..." He kind of trailed off to gauge her reaction, hoping for the best. He was looking at her again.

Alyson felt her heart sink as Eric spoke. Deep down that had been her fear, but she had been hoping for an answer she would like more, like he was shy or something. What he said really stung. "Oh," she said quietly, looking away again. After a moment she looked back at him. Her heart still felt sunken. "Why didn't you break it off sooner?" She felt a lump starting to form in her throat. She really liked Eric. _Don't you dare cry._

Eric looked down at his feet and took a deep breath. This was getting awkward. He looked back up and saw she was trying not to cry. "Oh, Alyson...don't cry…please, don't cry," he pleaded. "This is exactly why I haven’t said anything before. I didn't want you to overreact. I didn't want to hurt you."

Alyson frowned a little. "I don't think I'm overreacting," she snapped. She immediately felt guilty for snapping. "Sorry," she said, shaking her head and sniffling a bit. "I'm just upset, that's all." Her voice broke a little. She realized it was probably better to break it off sooner rather than later, but she was upset he waited this long, and she was very hurt to find out the last few months had all been a lie. She stood up. "I think I'm going to go now," she said with forced indifference. She headed towards the door, a small part of her hoping that Eric would stop her. It was getting harder to hold back her tears.

Eric knew she wanted him to stop her, but he let her go, then sighed of relief. It felt nice to finally have that off his chest.

Alyson exited the classroom and shut the door behind her. The lump in her throat was very strong now. _Don’t start crying until you reach the bathroom, don’t start crying until you reach the bathroom._ She started to cry after only getting about five feet away from the classroom door, but she kept her head down and didn't stop walking until she reached another hallway, not wanting Eric to see her tears. _God, why couldn’t he have said something earlier?!_

Dustin was walking around with some Slytherin friends of his. When Alyson walked past them with her head down, they immediately started making fun of her for crying. Dustin, however, knew better, plus he was a little intrigued; he had never seen her cry. She kept going, and Dustin stayed with his friends until he could disappear. He broke off from them and went the way she had been going.

Alyson stopped outside the nearest girls' bathroom with every intention of going in so she could cry in a stall, but she stopped for a minute outside of the bathroom and leaned against the wall. She hated how cruel the Slytherins could be. She wiped some tears from her eyes.

Dustin caught up to her, though he wasn't sure how to approach her because he didn't care about her wellbeing so much as he was just interested in knowing what had happened. "Hey, er, sorry about those guys back there. Are you okay?" he asked her, sounding authentic even though he didn’t mean it at all. He was known to be a good liar.

Alyson looked up and blushed. She was embarrassed that Dustin was seeing her like this. "Not really," she answered, wiping away some more tears from her eyes before they could fall. She forced herself to keep eye contact with Dustin, who surprisingly seemed to care. "Eric just broke up with me," she explained quietly, sniffling a little.

Inside, Dustin smiled. He had never liked Eric. He was too quiet, and he was apathetic about anything he did talk about. Outside, he frowned. "Well, what did he do that for?" Dustin demanded. Jokingly, he added, "Want me to beat him up? Because I know some people who know some people, if you know what I mean."

Alyson smiled a little. She couldn't believe Dustin actually seemed to care, and she really couldn’t believe that he was making her feel a little better. "He told me the feelings were never mutual," she explained, her voice a little shaky. "So the past seven months have all been a lie on his end, essentially."

"What a prick," he said. Not sure what else to say, he came and stood next to her and held an arm out for her to cry on his shoulder. "I know you really liked him, but he was never really cool anyway."

Alyson looked at him for a second. She was a bit wary of letting herself be this vulnerable around him. However, she was really sad, and so far he had been nice, so she leaned on him and began to cry on his shoulder, which was easy due to the considerable height difference between them. Her few tears turned into steady crying, and she ended up soaking the shoulder of his black robe in the process. Dustin was a little shocked that Alyson actually took the offer, but he patted her back and did his best not to be as awkward as he felt.

Alyson’s crying began to calm after a few minutes, and she said, “I wish he would have ended it sooner if that was the case, you know?” There were still tears in her eyes.

Dustin didn’t say much else because he didn’t really know how to handle this; Haley had Mary for stuff like this. Instead, he just let her talk and cry. It was a good choice, because Alyson just appreciated him being there. She was still surprised he even stopped to ask. She lifted her head up and wiped the tears away from her eyes. She was done crying for now. "Thank you," she said, her sense of surprise slightly apparent in her tone. She gave him a hug.

Dustin let her hug him, but he didn’t really reciprocate. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? I can't let my reputation be tarnished by an act of good will," he said with a wink.

Alyson smiled a little bit. Of course he wouldn't want this to be known about, that was so typical of him, but she couldn't bring herself to get mad at him about that; he was being too kind to her. "I won't, I promise," she said.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking down at her face to see if she was still crying. "Want me to get Haley and Mary to throw you a sleep over or something?"

"I'm fine, but thank you for the offer," Alyson said, smiling again. She was touched by his kindness. She never thought he'd ever be this nice to her. _Maybe there’s an ulterior motive._ She pushed the thought out of her mind. "I guess I'll see you around?" she asked.

Dustin nodded. "See you."

They went their separate ways. He went to the Slytherin common room and found Haley and Mary sitting in front of the fireplace gossiping. He came and plopped down on Haley's lap and kissed her in the middle of a sentence. "Hey ladies. I have some better gossip for you," he said when they broke apart. "Guess who just found a crying, newly single Mudblood next to a girls’ lavatory?"

"You did not," Mary insisted knowing immediately who he meant. There weren’t many Muggle-borns that Dustin would bother to talk about. "Did Eric and Alyson really break up? Did she see that you saw her?" She was very curious.

Dustin was careful to avoid details on the last question. "Yeah, apparently he's been lying to her about liking her or something. She was pretty upset. I asked her if she was okay. She kind of stopped crying and told me what happened."

Haley was a little shocked. " _You_ stopped and asked what was wrong? Did she seem like she was okay? I thought they were happy together. I wonder what happened," she pondered.

Dustin shrugged. "She looked as okay someone can look after a break up. Like I said, she told me the feelings were never mutual. He leading her on that whole time. That's how she explained it, anyway. I have no problem believing it. Eric always seemed spineless to me."

Mary was just as surprised as Haley. "I always thought he seemed really nice," she stated.

Haley kind of laughed. "Isn't that the point? He was always just...there. He was never mean or anything, but I wouldn't say he was nice either. If you ask me, Alyson could do better anyway. She needs someone who can stick up for them self and for her."

Dustin stood up from Haley’s lap and stretched out his arms before saying, "Well anyway, I just wanted to share. Thought you would be interested. I have to see a man about some things." He kissed Haley and disappeared into the boys’ dormitory.           

 

\---

 

Eric was sitting alone at a table in the corner of the library, trying to keep his mind off of what just happened by studying some herbology book he actually had very little interest in studying. He really did like Alyson as a friend, and he felt terrible for what he did to her. The guilt was gnawing at him on the inside. He was thinking about what happened when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

He turned around and came face to face with a large guy whom he was fairly sure was from Slytherin. The guy looked down at Eric and quietly said, "Get your things and come with me. Act natural. Don't start any trouble in here, or you'll regret it." Eric, unsure what to do and not wanting to provoke this guy, did as he was told.

They went out of the library and into a nearby classroom. Waiting for them were two other guys, just as large, if not larger, than the one who escorted Eric. The desks had been pushed against the walls, and they were all standing in the middle of the room. Eric got a sinking feeling in his heart that something bad was going to happen. He reached for his wand, just for it to be snatched from his hand by the guy who has brought him in. “You won’t be needing this,” the guy insisted with an evil smirk across his face. Eric started to panic a little. He could feel his heartrate increasing.

"What am I doing here? What's going on?" he asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of his voice. He realized his hands were shaking too. The first guy pushed him closer to the other guys, who caught him and held him there. The first guy walked closer and cracked his knuckles.

"What's going on is we hear you don't know how to treat a lady," he said before he punched Eric square in the jaw. Eric didn’t notice any pain, but he saw black for just a moment. Blood spewed from his mouth. "And we're here to teach you a lesson," the guy said as he punched Eric the other way. Now Eric's head was throbbing, and his feelings of panic had fully set in. The guys continued to hit him in this fashion, until someone else walked in the room. Eric’s vision was too blurry to see who it was, and his ears were ringing, but the unknown person must have told them to drop him because he hit the floor. He was on his hands and knees, coughing up blood when suddenly someone grabbed his hair and pulled it back. Eric heard this part.

"I hope you've learned your lesson, pretty boy. What you did to Alyson was crueler than this, and you deserve worse. I don't have time to deal what you deserve, however, so I'm granting you mercy. Next time you think about playing with someone's emotions, remember this."

And with that, whoever it was dropped Eric's hair, and his head hit the floor, knocking him out cold.


	2. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Here's chapter two. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
> 
> Details regarding some of the mature content in this chapter are in the author's note at the end of the chapter. As always, if you have any questions regarding the mature content of this story, feel free to message us at hannah.ashley9496@gmail.com.

Alyson walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room and read a book in a cushy chair in the corner until she was the last person in the room. She hadn't seen Eric pass through at all. Huh, that was weird. She had been secretly hoping she'd see him walk in, but maybe he had already gone up to his dormitory by the time she came in. Trying to deny her own disappointment, she went up to bed and tried to sleep, failing because she couldn't stop thinking about Eric. Dustin kept popping up in her mind too, and how surprisingly kind he had been. She tossed and turned and eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

\---

**2 September, 1996**

The next morning, Alyson went down to breakfast at her normal time. Haley was there to greet her with lots of hugs, and she immediately started with the questions. "I heard what happened. I'm so sorry. How are you? How did this happen? Do you need anything? Have you talked to him? I haven't seen him yet, not that I would talk to him anyway...."

Alyson gladly accepted all the hugs, still feeling sad, though she was determined to act as optimistic as possible today. "Thank you. I'm okay, I guess. I'll tell you about it at breakfast. I don't think I need anything, but thank you. I haven't talked to him, I actually haven't seen him since he broke up with me, not even in the common room."

"Well, let's sit down and get some food in you. I think I saw some chocolate eclairs close to the end of one of the tables, and we all know chocolate is the best medicine," Haley said with a sly smile. She didn't like seeing Alyson sad, and although she was putting on a brave face, it was clear she was not very happy. "Maybe talking about it will help some, anyway."

Alyson smiled when Haley made the comment about chocolate. "Yeah, maybe," she agreed. She sat down with Haley and began to put some food on her plate, even though she wasn't very hungry. "So last night I decided I wanted to talk to him about how I felt like I was the one putting all the effort into the relationship," she explained as she put pancakes on her plate. "And then you know what he told me? He never really had feelings for me in the first place, he was just leading me on that whole time because he didn't want to hurt my feelings." _A little late for that,_ she thought.

"He did not say that! So instead of breaking it off before you really liked him, he let you fall for him before he told you, so he wouldn't hurt you? Wow, that's logical. That makes _so_ much sense," Haley said sarcastically. "God, guys can be such jerks sometimes. Why do we even bother with them? I'm sorry, Alyson. I know you liked him, but you deserve better anyway."

Alyson laughed a little at Haley's speech. She was always very passionate and dramatic about everything. "I know, I have to agree. I can't wait to get over him, I hate the heartbreak stage, you know? It really sucks." She started to eat some food, looking around the Great Hall. "I haven't seen him at all this morning either. I wonder if he's avoiding me."

Mary sat down as Alyson said this and replied, "I haven't seen him either, and I've actually been looking. If he's avoiding you, he's doing a pretty good job."

Lidiane came by and sat down next to Alyson, and her eyes flashed up and met Mary’s momentarily. Lidiane felt her face grow hot for a moment before she shook it off and quickly turned her attention to Alyson again. "I'm so sorry," she said, giving her a hug. Alyson hugged her back, knowing they'd be having a good long chat about the breakup later that day. "You'll never guess who's in the hospital wing...." she told the group as though she was holding onto a huge secret.

"Oh, who is it?" Haley asked, eager for some gossip.

Dustin plopped down next to her and said, "Our old friend, Eric," as he reached for some bacon.

Alyson's face paled for a second, and her stomach dropped. What had happened? Dustin didn't really let those guys beat him up, did they? "Does anyone know what happened?" she asked.

Lidiane rubbed Alyson's back to help calm her down. "Rumor has it that he was beaten up by some burly Slytherins," she said, casting a shady glance at Dustin as if she read Alyson's thoughts. Mary and Haley looked surprised, but he just continued eating nonchalantly.

Suddenly Dustin shrugged and commented, "Even if it was, who knows? It was probably just Draco's cronies. You know how they get when they're hungry."

Alyson's brows furrowed a little. Maybe he was right. "Either way, it's terrible what happened," she commented, genuinely feeling bad for Eric, though a small part of her couldn't help but to feel he had it coming. He had broken her heart, after all. She decided she'd talk to Dustin privately after breakfast about it.

Haley also shrugged. "Serves him right, if you ask me," she told Mary, just low enough for the two of them. Mary couldn't help but to smile at her friend. She always had something to say, even if it was incredibly rude.

"Are you going to go and see him?" Lidiane asked Alyson.

Alyson bit her lower lip, hesitating with her answer. She honestly didn't know. Was it too soon after the breakup to go see him? "I'm not sure," she admitted. "I don't want to make him feel awkward, you know?"

"I don't think he's conscious," Dustin interjected, looking up at Alyson for the first time. Their eyes met and Dustin felt oddly attracted to her just then.

Alyson gave him a suspicious look, desperately curious as to whether or not he was responsible for this.

After breakfast, the heads of houses handed out their students’ schedules, and the group figured out which classes they had together. Potions (big surprise), Transfiguration, and Defense Against the Dark Arts were all on the list of shared classes. Transfiguration was first.

When they all got up and started walking to class, Alyson gently grabbed Dustin's arm and pulled him aside. "Are you responsible for what happened to Eric?" she asked quietly, getting straight to the point.

Dustin was completely taken off guard. He didn't like being interrogated like this. "Why's it matter?" he asked defensively as he narrowed his eyes.

"It doesn't, not really," she answered truthfully. "I would just like to know." She stood her ground. Dustin didn't intimidate her.

"Interesting," he pondered out loud. "I always took you for being a nice person. I may or may not have had something to do with this. Or maybe he just got what he deserved."

Alyson raised her eyebrows. "I've never had anyone do something like that for me," she commented, knowing that Dustin had to have been behind it. Part of her felt terrible about it, but part of her felt flattered. Dustin scoffed at the idea. "Maybe I'm not as nice as you think," Alyson added before walking off and catching up with the girls. She felt so conflicted about everything.

Dustin stayed there for a minute in shock. What had just happened? How did she know it was him? Was she seriously okay with this? And anyway, she isn't nice since when? He shook his head then got back to heading to towards class slowly this time, knowing he wouldn't catch up with them 

\---

Soon classes were over and Lidiane and Alyson headed to the library to go do their homework. Mary decided she was going to go visit Eric. She felt bad for him, even if what he did to Alyson was shitty. She entered the Hospital Wing and immediately saw the bed he was sitting in. It was the same one she sat in when she broke her arm while watching Quidditch. The bludger hit her, and they brought her to the same bed. It made her smile.

Even from the door Eric looked bad. She waved to him as she walked on over, taking a seat by his bed. "Hey," she said with the same little smile.

Eric could barely see her through his puffy eyes, but he thought she looked prettier than usual. He returned the smile as best he could.  "Hey, Mary," he said. He didn't sound half as bad as he looked. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to come visit you," she answered, which was the truth. "How are you feeling?" she asked. He looked even worse up close. His face was covered in bruises.

"Well, aside from my pride, I feel fine. Madame Pomfrey says the swelling should go down soon. The pain is already gone so that's a plus," Eric started. "I just wish I could remember who did it. Someone was there and saying something, but it's all wonky in my head now. I told McGonagall everything I remembered, but I don’t think it was enough to catch whoever it was."

"My guess is some kids from Slytherin, maybe Draco Malfoy's cronies," Mary replied. "I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Do you know when you'll be released?"

Eric shook his head. “No, it definitely wasn't them. I remember leaving the library with some guy, and we went to a classroom where there was two other guys. They said something about treating a lady wrong and started hitting me.” He shuddered. “I don't remember much after that.”

That sounded like something Dustin would get his people up to, but Dustin didn't really like Alyson, so it made no sense that he would do that for her. "That's odd and terrible," Mary commented. "I'm sorry that happened to you. I hope those guys get caught and get punished."

A silence passed between them. Eric was checking Mary out as best as he could. She really did look pretty with the sunlight shining on her through the windows. “Thank you for coming here. Do you know if anyone else has been in?”

Mary shook her head. “You're welcome. Honestly, I wanted to come. I don't think anyone else has come, but I could be mistaken, though. I know Alyson wanted to see you. I think Lidiane, too.” She noticed Eric looking at her and smiled a little.

"I kind of hope she doesn't come," Eric said honestly. "It's too soon to try to be friends. I mean, I really want to be friends, but seven months is a long time. It would be incredibly awkward."

Mary nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, she said that's why she didn't plan on coming—she didn't want things to be awkward. I'm sure you guys will be able to make up and be friends again," she said optimistically.

Eric couldn't stop smiling. He had always liked how positive of a person Mary usually seemed to be. "Why are you a Slytherin again?" he asked her.

Mary smiled a little. "I don't know, I've wondered the same a couple of times. Maybe the ambition thing? Plus my family has a history for being in Slytherin. I always wondered why you weren't in Ravenclaw; you're so smart."

He would have blushed if not for the already red face. "Thanks, but I'm not that kind of smart."

"Don't try to be modest, of course you are," she protested. "You got straight O's last year." She blushed a little, realizing he might see it as kind of weird that she remembered that. "Plus you always help me with my arithmency homework like it's the easiest thing in the world."

Eric laughed, then grimaced. "You remember my marks last year?" he asked, flattered. She blushed even deeper red. "Hey, it's fine. If it makes you feel any better, the only reason I passed potions is because I copied you."

"Oh, well, I guess we're even then," Mary teased, giving him another smile and a little laugh. They continued to chat about various things for the next several hours.

\---

Dustin and Haley went to the Slytherin common room to do their homework. They only did about half of it, however, because they couldn't stop flirting and snogging. Eventually they called it a night on the homework and just cuddled and kissed in front of the fireplace.

They were the only ones left in the common room. In the middle of a snogging session, Dustin started to slip his hand up Haley's shirt.

At first Haley thought it felt nice, when it was just her back he was touching. Then he tried to unsnap her bra and she pushed his hand down. "Not yet," she said gently, still kissing him.

Dustin kept kissing her and let his hand fall for a moment. He soon reached back up and tried to unsnap her bra again. She pushed his hand down again, too. "Come on, Haley, I've been waiting for months," he pleaded.

Haley reluctantly pulled away from him. “Dustin, I know it's been months since we talked about it, but you've known me for years. You know I'm not going to just give it up,” she explained. “I want it to be special.”

"We could make it special right now," he protested. "We could find someplace and set up, let it be just the two of us. It would be nice." His voice was smooth, but he was getting annoyed with his girlfriend.

Haley was also getting agitated with Dustin, who knew how she felt about this. “No, we can't make it special right now. Especially not with you acting like this. There's a lot of things that I don't mind you doing, but this is not one of them,” she protested.

“Come on, Haley, don't be such a prude,” Dustin insisted, the annoyance now apparent in his tone. He forcibly pressed a firm kiss to her lips and placed a hand somewhere he knew Haley probably would prefer he didn't, but he didn't care. She needed to get over herself. She had kept him waiting long enough.

Haley immediately felt scared of Dustin. She tried to push him off, but he held her tight. "Dustin, please no," she begged him. He didn't listen. He was kissing her neck and lips and rubbing her in places she had never been rubbed before. "Dustin, stop!" she said a little louder. She didn't want to cause a scene, but this was so wrong.

Adam, Mary's tall and handsomely blonde older brother, quickly came down the stairs of the boys' dormitory. "What's going on out here?" he asked, rushing over to the sofa. Dustin pulled away from Haley, still keeping her on his lap with a tight hold. She was still squirming a little bit.

"Go back upstairs and mind your own business, Smith," Dustin said harshly, annoyed he had been interrupted.

At this point Haley had started crying. "Adam, make him stop," she pleaded. This infuriated both of the guys for different reasons.

"Don't you love me, Haley?" Dustin asked Haley. She just kept looking at Adam pleadingly. She needed his help so bad. Surely he wouldn’t let her be taken by Dustin like this? He had known her for years.

"Dustin, leave her alone," Adam said, walking over to Dustin and grabbing him by the arms, forcefully pulling him off of Haley. He was so mad at Dustin; he was making such an arse out of himself. Forcing yourself on a girl was wrong on so many levels.

Adam let him go and Dustin stepped back; Adam was much bigger than he was. Dustin was furious that Haley would do this to him. "Fine, if this is how you're going to act, we're done," he spat at her. "I don't want a prude like you anyway." He stormed off through the stone entryway into the dungeons outside. It was just Adam and Haley in the common room now, and she just leaned back on the sofa and started crying. What the hell had just happened? Dustin always had a temper, but he had never once turned it on Haley until now.

Adam sat down next to her and wrapped his arms around her, shifting himself so she could cry on his shoulder and marveling at how perfectly she fit into his arms. He didn't say anything, what could he possibly say to make her feel better? Her boyfriend—now ex-boyfriend—had just felt her up against her will then broke up with her because she asked someone to protect her. He was furious with Dustin. Adam wasn't done with him yet, but right now he wanted to comfort Haley.

Eventually Haley stopped crying and sat up. She smiled sadly at Adam. "Thank you. I don't know what would have happened...I just don't know what happened...it was fine, and then it wasn't, and I couldn't stop it. I'm so glad I have you," she said, reaching over and hugging him again.

Adam hugged her back, feeling protective. It was more than he should feel for his sister’s best friend. "I'll make sure he doesn't bother you again like that, okay? I'm so sorry that happened to you," he said, arms still wrapped around her in a hug.

Eventually, the swelling went down in Eric’s face and Madame Pomfrey let him leave with Mary. Apparently she had stayed there for more than a couple hours. They bade each other goodnight and went to their respective houses. Mary entered the Slytherin common room to a sight she was completely and utterly shocked to see. Haley and Adam were sleeping cuddled up on the sofa in front of the fire place.

Mary hesitated, unsure of what to do for a moment. This was crazy! Haley and her brother was such a weird sight... _and_ Haley had a boyfriend. This wasn't fair to Dustin at all. "Haley, Adam!” she hissed, going over to them and shaking them awake.

Adam’s eyes shot open, but Haley didn't move, so he shook her a little. She sat up and looked around. "Mary, what time is it?" she asked.

Mary was more concerned with what was going on, however. “What happened?” she demanded, crossing her arms.

Haley sighed. She got up, said goodnight to Adam, and went upstairs with Mary. They sat down on her bed together and faced each other. "Long story short, Dustin tried to force himself on me, and your brother stepped in. Dustin dumped me, and Adam comforted me," Haley explained.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Mary asked, all worries about Haley being with her brother vanquished, at least for now. "I can't believe he did that," she continued, stunned. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm better now. I can't believe he would do it either. He's never done anything like this before!" Haley exclaimed. Although, if she were honest with herself, she wasn’t entirely surprised. She thought again about how he had a violent streak in him, but he never used it against Haley. She had a violent streak too, though, and she wasn’t scared of him. "I want to hurt him."

Mary sighed, "Yeah, me too. How dare he put his hands on you like that! I'm glad Adam was around. Who knows what would have happened?

Haley shuddered. "I don't want to think about that. I'm trying to look at the bright side to ease my mind. At least I'm single now…."

"Yeah, now you can move onto much better guys," Mary said optimistically, but she knew Haley wouldn't get over Dustin quite that easily and quickly. They had been together for a couple of years now and best friends since birth before that. "Maybe we can come up with some kind of revenge plan," she suggested, hoping that would make Haley feel better. It was juvenile, but she and Haley sometimes enjoyed playing pranks on people who had done wrong to them.

Haley shrugged and looked down at her hands. "He's not really worth it," she said sullenly. "I can't think of anything anyway that would make this better." She was lying. She could think of something, but it didn't have anything to do with Dustin. and she didn't want Mary to know she was thinking about her brother.

Mary gave her best friend a sympathetic look and hugged her. "Okay. Just let me know if there's anything I can do for you, yeah?"

"Yeah, of course," Haley replied. "Thank you, Mary. Do you mind if I go back downstairs? I'm not very tired right now...." Mary said she didn't mind, so Haley went back down to the common room. Adam hadn't moved so she went and sat next to him on the sofa, although not as close as she had originally been.

"I want to kill him," Adam said after she got comfortable.

"He's not worth it. He never was. I just want to forget he ever existed," Haley responded matter-of-factly.

"I can't blame you. He's a total prick. I never really liked him. I pity the next girl in his life...." Adam gave Haley a sympathetic look, then realized she probably wanted to talk about anything else. "I mean, who are we talking about? I've never heard of this kid before, are you sure he exists?" He winked.

She shoved him playfully. "Anyway, thank you for being here. I don't know what I would have done without you," she said truthfully. "Now if only you could hang around all the time to keep my mind off it when he's around."

Adam gave her a sympathetic smile. An idea struck him. "We could hang out more, you know, if you would really like that," he told her, eyebrows raising slightly in anticipation. He always enjoyed Haley's company over the summers when she stayed with Mary for weeks at a time. 

Haley smiled a little to herself. She had always fancied Adam a little when they were kids, and this was bringing back very old memories. "Yeah, I might like that," she replied passively. "Your friends wouldn't think you were lame for hanging around a fifth year?"

"Maybe, maybe not. Even if they did, I wouldn't care, you're far cooler than a lot of the seventh years." Adam would probably never admit this to anyone, but even as kids he had a bit of a crush on Haley.

"Please, you don't have to tell me things I already know," she scoffed. "I just don't want you to be shunned, is all."

He laughed out loud at her. "I am King of Slytherin, Haley. If anyone is to be shunned it will be _by_ me," he returned.

It was her turn to laugh. "The King of Slytherin? I've always wanted to be royalty," she joked then blushed deeply.

"Maybe you will be some day," he told her with a triumphant smile. "You're already on very good terms with the Royal Family, being friends with both the King and his sister," he joked, shifting so they were sitting slightly closer, though not enough to really suggest anything.

"Yeah, except the sister would be a royal nuisance in that case...and anyway, I just got dumped. I can't start planning our wedding yet, it'll look suspicious," she joked back. Then she looked sad again. "I wish I could just forget about this whole catastrophe for a while."

Adam gave her a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, Haley. I wish you could too. Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?

"Unless you have something that will give me temporary amnesia without hexing me, then no. Although I would enjoy some company for a while," she stated. She readjusted so her knee rested on his leg. Adam had a sort of reputation for smuggling Muggle drugs sometimes, but she didn't want to say so outright, and she wasn't lying about wanting the company.

"I might have something, if you're really interested," Adam offered, a little hesitant because he was unsure of whether she was implying she wanted drugs or not.

"What is it?" Haley asked quietly, quite interested indeed.

"It's an herb that you smoke and it gives you a really euphoric feeling. It's my favorite," he added with a slightly mischievous smile.

"Does it make you forget about bad things?" she asked him.

He thought for a moment before answering, "Not exactly, but it will make you forget about thinking about it."

She nodded. “I’d like to try that.”

Adam gave her another mischievous grin. "Want to try some right now? We'd have to find someplace to smoke it.

"I know somewhere," Haley offered immediately. She waited while he darted upstairs to get it, and then they snuck out of the common room. She led him to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "It's not ideal, but it's private enough."

“This place is actually really good, I've used it before," he told her. They sat down on the tiled floor, and he handed her a joint.

Haley looked at the unfamiliar object, unsure of what to do. Adam smiled and lit it for her then showed her what to do. They sat in the bathroom and smoked it. Twenty minutes later, they were both feeling the effects. Haley couldn't stop giggling, and Adam was just staring at the wall with a goofy grin on his face.

"This is great, isn't it?" Adam asked her with a big smile. He laughed a little at how cute she looked. She looked like nothing was wrong in the world, like she was completely care and worry free, on top of feeling happy, which was nice.

Haley just looked at him and started giggling again. He was right, though. She had completely forgotten about her troubles earlier in the evening. Eventually she calmed down enough to say, "I never want this feeling to stop."

He nodded, "It doesn't have to. I have loads of this and, well, I'd be willing to offer you some, for a price."

She laughed and replied, "I'll pay anything as long as you'll do it with me."

Adam gave her a big, goofy grin. He decided a change of scenery would be nice. "How about we take a tour of the school?" he asked happily, standing up and reaching his hand out to help her up. 

\---

Meanwhile, Alyson and Lidiane had finished their homework quickly and spent a little time out on the grounds.

They were both sitting down under a short tree with thick leaves and branches, just hanging out. Lidiane was leaned against the tree, while Alyson sat cross legged in front of her. "So what did you talk to Dustin about?" Lidiane asked curiously. "I saw you pull him aside this morning before class."

Alyson twisted some grass in her hands nervously. "I asked him if he had any idea who beat up Eric," she answered truthfully. "I thought he might know."

Lidiane was curious. "Did he know anything?" she asked.

Alyson shook her head. "No, he didn't. At least he claimed he didn't," she lied. He didn’t explicitly say it was him, but she had a feeling it was.

"Hm, I'm sure he was lying," Lidiane said quietly **. "** Wasn't Dustin the first person to know? It kind of fits, you see? The timing, I mean."

"You both sat down at nearly the same time this morning, I thought you were technically first. You were going to make the announcement, he just finished it for you," Alyson pointed out. God, was she defending Dustin? That was terrible, especially since she knew he was behind it. "Maybe he is lying, but I guess we might never know."

Lidiane eyed at Alyson through her lashes for a minute. "Let's go see Eric and ask him about it," she suggested. "Maybe he can tell us what happened. I'm just curious to know who would do something like this. I mean, can it really be a coincidence that it happened right after he broke up with you?"

"You can go see him, but I...it's not that I don't want to go, I just think it would be really awkward for both of us, and I don't want to put him through that, you know?" Alyson hoped Lidiane understood what she meant. "Mary probably visited him in the Hospital Wing. We could always ask her about it tomorrow."

Lidiane nodded, "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't know if I want to talk to him right now, anyway. I know it doesn't directly affect me, but what he did was incredibly rude, you know? He broke my best friend's heart."

Alyson nodded. "Yeah, it was pretty rude what he did. God, I still can't believe it! It all still seems so unreal, almost like it didn't happen, but it did."

Lidiane rubbed her friend's knee. "It'll get better in time, it always does," she soothed. "Anything I can do to help while we wait? Prank seventh years? Buy you huge books and bags of candy in Hogsmeade later?"

Alyson smiled a little at her friend's response. "We'll see what happens," she said, appreciative of Lidiane's kindness. She looked at her watch. "We should probably start heading back to the common room, it's almost nine."

Lidiane nodded. "Okay, sounds good," she said as she started to get up. "They really should extend the older students' curfew until at least ten."

Alyson got up as well, and the two of them started walking back to the castle. "I know! Nine is ridiculous."

Lidiane nodded in agreement, and they walked in silence for few minutes. Lidiane started to say something about their classes, but she noticed someone headed their way and held her tongue on the subject. "Is that Dustin?" she asked instead. "I'm not entirely shocked that he's out this late, I suppose." They kept going, and as they got closer they noticed that he wasn't going towards them, but towards the forest behind them; he looked furious.

"He looks upset," Alyson commented, watching him walk by. He didn’t even seem to notice them standing there staring at him. "I'll catch up with you in a minute, I'm going to go see what's wrong," she told her friend, looking at her briefly before heading in Dustin's direction. She realized she never told Lidiane about how Dustin comforted her, so she was probably wondering why Alyson was doing this. Oh well. She caught up to Dustin and kindly asked, "Hey, is everything okay?"

Dustin didn't stop walking, but he cast her a dumbfounded look. "What business is it of yours?" he asked harshly.

His tone stung a little, but Alyson wasn't one to let herself be offended by Dustin's attitude unless he was really being horrible. "It's none of my business, actually. I just thought maybe you'd like someone to talk to, but if that's not the case, I can go," she said coolly.

"No, what I would like is someone's arms to break and a practice dummy to test some not-so-legal curses," Dustin replied angrily with a specific person in mind. He stopped walking and faced her. "Why are you talking to me after everything I've done to you anyway? Just because I let you cry on my shoulder doesn't make us best friends."

"I know that," Alyson replied. "I'm just trying to be nice." She refrained from fully snapping back. "You know, the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom has some dummies you could practice on, if you want to sneak in there. You could either stay there or bring a dummy outside or something, I don't know. Good luck with everything." She gave him a smile the turned around, walking back to the castle.

Dustin hesitated and weighed his options, then quickly grabbed her hand before she got too far. "Hey, look I'm... I'm sorry. I’m not mad at you, it's just that, well, me and Haley just broke up, and I'm not sure how to handle it." He didn't drop her hand after getting her attention.

Alyson squeezed his hand a little when he told her the news. She was stunned, she never would have guessed they'd break up, at least not now. They seemed like such a happy couple in their own way. They always bickered, but they had bickered since they were old enough to do so. It wasn’t anything weird. "I'm so sorry," she said sympathetically. She kind of lifted her arms to offer him a hug, feeling slightly awkward because of all the things he had done, but she felt bad for him.

Dustin turned away, thoroughly ignoring her offer, simply because he was not in the mood for sympathy. "I dumped her," he said angrily. "I don't want your sympathy, I want to kill them both. I need you to stop me."

His anger made her feel a little scared (he sounded too serious for her liking), but she decided not to let it bother her. She crossed her arms, thinking about what to do. It occurred to her he said 'them,' and she didn't know who the other person was. "I know this wouldn't be as good, but I was serious about stealing that dummy from the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, then using it to practice unsavory spells on. You could always write their names on it or something, I know a spell to erase it." She felt a little bit guilty about suggesting that, since Haley was her friend, but she supposed she was preventing Dustin from actually going and bothering Haley, so that was a good thing, right? That reminded her, why did he break up with her anyway? What if it was an awful reason? She made a note to ask later.

"No, that wouldn't help. Or maybe it would. I've never been this mad before. What do I do?" Dustin said, painfully aware that he was more vulnerable now than he ever had been.

Alyson had never seen Dustin like this before. "I think the dummy thing might help," she answered, "or we could talk about what happened. I know that sounds cliché, but talking over things sometimes does really help."

Dustin smiled a smile that Alyson was none too fond of. It was mischievous and malicious. "Let's do the dummy thing, but let's do it my way. How good are you at transfiguration?" he asked, knowing that she was one of the top students in class.

"I'm good at it, I guess," she replied warily. She had an idea of what he was getting at, and she didn’t like it.

"Then let's go," Dustin said, not wanting to wait to act out his plan. He began to walk towards the castle and Alyson followed, slightly apprehensive of what she had just gotten herself into while also intrigued, plus she did want to help Dustin feel better.

They snuck into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and got their hands on one of the dummies. "The reason I asked about your abilities," Dustin began, "is because I want you to try to make these dummies look a little more....lifelike." He wanted them to look as much like the people he was furious with as possible. He wanted to feel like he was hurting them in order to get this anger he felt on the outside instead.

"Okay," Alyson hesitantly agreed. That sounded slightly sadistic, but they were just dummies, not the real people, so there was no real harm…at least that's what she told herself. "What do you want them to look like?" she asked, looking at him curiously.

\---

Haley, eager for the tour of the school, took Adam’s hand and stood up with his help. They walked around and went in and out of the classrooms, taking corridors off the beaten path since it was well after curfew. They got to the third floor and went into the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, coming face to face with the reason they were together in the first place. Haley froze and Adam immediately tensed up. This wasn’t going to end well.

Dustin turned around and took on the same posture Adam took on. A tense, uncomfortable silence overcame the room. Alyson, unsure of how to act at the situation, stayed quiet out of awkwardness. It was Dustin who broke it.

"I'm glad to see you managed to get over me so quickly," Dustin said coldly to Haley, glaring at her, his eyes like daggers. He was seething with rage. "I guess that's what whores like you do."

Suddenly Haley was almost just as mad as he was, her entire buzz gone. She opened her mouth to retort, but it was Adam who spoke up first. "How dare you! You have absolutely no right to call her anything, you bloody coward, let alone speak to her!" he spat at Dustin.

"I can call her whatever the hell I want, you bastard!" Dustin spat back, marching up to Adam. His fear of Adam’s size seemed to evaporate. "Do you realize how shitty it is to steal someone else's girlfriend right after a breakup?!"

Alyson felt so awkward, she didn't know what to do. She looked over to Haley, who looked furious.

Haley noticed Alyson for the first time and their eyes met. The confusion of Alyson’s presence added to her rage. "What the hell are you doing with him, anyway?" Haley demanded. She realized she shouldn’t be snapping at Alyson. None of this was her fault, though she was still curious as to what Alyson was hanging out with Dustin for. They had never been friendly.

Alyson felt some anger rise in her. She opened her mouth, about to say something back, but Dustin cut in first, turning on his heel to face Haley. "That’s really none of your business now, is it?"

"First off, you have no right to talk to her like that, so _fuck off_ ," Adam said and he stepped in front of Haley right into Dustin's face. "Secondly, I didn't steal your girlfriend. She's you ex-girlfriend. _You_ screwed up, remember? So do as you’re told, and back the fuck up."

The girls watched in horror as Adam and Dustin kept fighting.

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Dustin yelled angrily, shoving Adam with such force that Adam actually stumbled back a bit. Adam looked shocked, but he knew he could take Dustin. He decided not to pursue it, though.

"Oh, look at you acting all high and mighty now that your new girlfriend is around. I never thought you'd sink so low, anyway, hanging around a Mudblood," Adam spat back right in Dustin's face, striking a nerve with everyone in the room.

Dustin gave a cold, humorless laugh. "You better watch who you call a Mudblood," he said, his tone darker now. His hate filled eyes flashed over Adam’s shoulder to Haley, who he noticed looked slightly scared, before focusing back on Adam.

"Adam, let’s just go," Haley said, grabbing Adam's hand. This, of course, infuriated Dustin all over again. He pulled out his wand as he backed up and sent a hex at their hands which shocked them apart before they had time to think. Adam pulled out his wand and pointed it at Dustin.

"I'll give you one warning, prick. Don't _ever_ point your elementary magic at me," he said darkly, keeping his wand raised. "I've dabbled in magic your puny little mind couldn't even comprehend. If you want a taste, go for it, but I'm going to warn you to stand down."

Dustin gave him a smirk. "I might just take you up on that offer sometime," he said coolly.

"Dustin, let's go," Alyson said, thinking Haley's suggestion was a good idea. She hesitantly grabbed his arm.

Haley met Alyson's eye again, all suspicion gone and replaced by fear. "Adam, come on," she pleaded, grabbing his hand again and getting the same reaction from Dustin. Adam sent a curse meant to stick Dustin's tongue to the roof of his mouth.

The curse worked, and Dustin was furious. They hadn't reached the point in their studies of learning how to do nonverbal spells, so he couldn't do anything in return. Alyson pulled him away before he did anything stupid, afraid he would resort to punching Adam or something. "Let's _go_ ," she said insistently. She kept her hold on his arm and began to walk away, hoping he would follow.

Dustin jerked his arm out of her grasp and gave Adam a glare that could have boiled his blood. Alyson’s hand fell helplessly to her side.

"Adam, undo it and let's go," Haley insisted again.

Adam didn't undo it; he just continued to smirk at Dustin. "It'll undo itself eventually. Probably," he added with a wink at her.

She kind of laughed at his joke, but she still insisted, “Come on, Adam, let’s go.”

They started to walk out of the door, but Haley stopped and turned back. "We'll talk about this later, Alyson," she said coolly, then she followed Adam out of the door.

Dustin was fuming. His tongue was stuck to the roof of his mouth and he had no idea how to undo it. He turned to Alyson with a pleading look, hoping she knew a countercurse.

Alyson just watched Haley and Adam go, not really responding to her last comment, just sort of nodding. Once they were gone, she turned to Dustin and performed the countercurse on Dustin. She had learned it a year previously due to having the same curse placed on her. Thankfully, it worked.

"I guess asking if you're okay would be stupid, because clearly you're not," she told him. "What exactly was that all about?" She wanted some answers, because there was no way in hell she was going to pick Dustin's side over Haley's without good reason.

Dustin was still fuming and trying to get feeling back in his tongue. " _He_ is why we broke up. We were snogging in the common room like always and suddenly he walks in and breaks us up. Who the hell does that? Anyway, she pretty much agreed with him and we stopped snogging and she started talking to him instead. I was furious that she would take his side in something like that! I asked her if she would rather have him and she didn't answer, so I broke up with her. Now I guess they're together or something," he explained, leaving out the details of how he almost raped her and she was begging Adam to stop him. He wanted to spare her the gory details. "I'm so sorry you had to get in the middle of that." He was surprised to know that he meant it.

Alyson attentively listened to Dustin vent. "It's okay, I'm glad I was here. If I wasn't, your tongue would probably still be stuck to the roof of your mouth." She paused for a second, thinking over what Dustin said. "That's horrible, I'm sorry. That was quite the douche-y move on Adam's end, and I'm surprised Haley did something like that, though I know she's always had a bit of a thing for Adam." She stopped talking and nearly covered her hand with her mouth. She wasn't supposed to tell anyone that, it just sort of slipped. She wasn't even sure if she believed Dustin, at least not yet. She wanted to hear Haley's side of the story, though she couldn't help it—she felt genuinely bad for Dustin.

"Oh, so then this isn't a new thing. Well that explains why he stepped in. I bet she was cheating on me the whole time!" He was even madder hearing that Haley had always liked Adam. He forced himself to calm down after a minute so his anger didn't transfuse onto Alyson. He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into a hug to help calm down. Again he was surprised to feel himself enjoying her company.

Alyson was quite surprised when Dustin grabbed and hugged her, not really expecting him to do that, but she didn't mind. She hugged him back, hoping it would help calm him down. She was surprised by how much she wanted him to feel better. "If it's any consolation, she wasn't cheating with him to my knowledge, at least," she said softly.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore. It's getting late. Maybe we should go bed," he suggested. "Unless you want to hang out for a little while..."

"What would make you feel better?" Alyson asked. They pulled away from the hug. "I know after my break up I just ended up lying in bed for hours because I couldn't get to sleep."

"I'd like to hang out with you for a while," Dustin said quietly.

That had been the answer she was expecting, but she was still generally surprised by how nice Dustin was being to her as of late. "Okay," she said with a smile. "I don't have much experience with staying out past curfew, so you'll have to take the lead," she joked, but there was some truth to her statement.

He looked at her suspiciously. "Seeing as this is your first time out past curfew we should do something awesome to celebrate. Want to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom again and actually do what we were originally going to do? Maybe we can teach each other something," he suggested hopefully.

She smiled at him again. "Okay," she said. "That sounds good." They headed back into the classroom and proceeded to make the dummies look as much like humans as possible. They were only fifth years, so of course the results weren't realistic, which resulted in quite a bit of laughter. They had a good time together that night. Dustin spent most of his time hexing the dummies, but eventually he sat down next to her and they just talked. After a while, Dustin noticed Alyson started to get tired, so he suggested they go to bed.

"Are you sure? I can keep you company longer if you'd like," Alyson said, covering her mouth as she yawned.

"Yeah, I'm getting tired too," he replied. Which wasn't really true, he was still mad, but much to his surprise, hanging out with Alyson had made him feel a lot better.

"We'll have to take some hidden corridors. It's about the time for everyone to be out patrolling, but I'll walk you back," he said sweetly. He was laying on the charm thick, and he knew it.

"Thank you," Alyson said. She felt a few butterflies in her stomach. A guy had never officially walked her back from somewhere before, not even Eric. He walked her back to the Gryffindor Common Room, taking extra care not to get caught by anybody patrolling, because that would certainly kill nice night the two had together, and before they knew it they were standing in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Thank you for walking me back. Good night!" Alyson whispered happily. She wasn't going to tell the portrait the password until Dustin left.

Dustin gave her a grin that he had never given her before. He usually reserved it for girls he was trying to impress. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow, then?" He said, trying to sound hopeful. He was having conflicted feelings about hanging out with her. She was a Mudblood, after all.

Dustin's grin put another butterfly or two in Alyson's stomach. She felt a little conflicted because she was still upset over Eric, but she decided to push her feelings aside. "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," she replied with a small smile of her own.

"I'm looking forward to it. Good night," he told her, still smiling, before he walked off. When he was out of earshot Alyson went into the common room and headed up to bed. Nobody was awake. 

\---

Meanwhile, Adam was still fuming as he and Haley left. "The nerve of him!" he commented, half to himself, half to Haley. "God, I could have killed him," he continued angrily as they walked through the corridors they had taken to get there.

Haley wanted to agree, but her heart wouldn't let her. "I know what you mean, but he is so beyond not worth it," she said instead. "And what was he doing with _her_? Of all people, I never expected him to be hanging out with Alyson. He usually talks about how much he wishes I wouldn’t.”

"I guess you're right, neither of us should waste our time on him," he replied, though he still felt furious. Dustin did so many low things, yet he still acted all high and mighty. "I would never have expected him to be hanging out with a Mudbl-someone like _her,_ either," he agreed, refraining from calling her a Mudblood because he knew she was Haley's friend for some reason. "How pathetic is that?

Haley blushed because she also hung out with "someone like her." She was used to getting that sort of treatment about her, and she knew what he meant. Alyson wasn't exactly Dustin's favorite kind of person. A Muggle-born Gryffindor who got marks higher than any purebloods he knew personally was the type of person he made it a point to hate. She was also curious as to why they were together, but for different reasons. What if tried the same thing with her? Even worse, what if she _let_ him?

"I'm going to need something a little stronger than that stuff we had earlier to sleep now," Haley said jokingly. Suddenly she felt exhausted and knew she would really pass out as soon as she hit the pillow.

Adam gave her a smile, forcing himself to calm down for Haley's sake, at least temporarily. "Maybe some other time," he said lightly. "Trust me, you'll fall asleep just fine." He could tell she felt tired even just by looking at her, plus he knew the effects of drugs quite well. "So will we be spending other nights together like this?" he asked, referring to the drugs, not the running into Dustin part. He was hopeful of a positive answer. He knew she said she wanted to earlier, but she had been high as a kite then.

Haley hesitated. She liked Adam but she didn't want anything to get in the way of her studies. "As long as I can keep my marks up, then I want to do this as much as I possibly can," she said finally.

"I like the sound of that. I'll make sure you can keep up with school just fine," Adam promised. They reached the Slytherin Common Room, and he let her walk ahead of him, making sure she didn't stumble her way through.

She went in and sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, casting _Incindio_ at the same time so that they actually had a fire. Adam sat down closer to her than he would have a couple of hours ago.

He put his arm on the back of the sofa so it was behind Haley's shoulders but not wrapped around them. "How are you feeling?" he asked, wanting to make sure she was okay after what happened in the classroom, as well as make sure she was coming off of her high just fine.

"I'm feeling wonderful again. Extremely relaxed," she said as she shrugged a little closer to him. "The high is gone, but I still feel pretty happy. Fuck those guys, anyway."

"Glad to hear that," Adam said, mirroring Haley and scooting a little closer to her as well. "Yeah, fuck those guys," he agreed.

Haley laid her head on his shoulder. The fire and the warmth coming from Adam was overpowering and soon she fell asleep. He stayed awake with her for a little while and watched her sleep. She looked extra cute, and she sort of drooled on his shoulder. He smiled fondly. Soon he started to feel sleepy as well so he shook her gently awake. "Go get in your bed," he told her softly.

She reached up, still half asleep, and kissed him full on the lips. She had actually been dreaming about him. She fully woke up in the middle and realized what was going on and pulled away. She was a very deep shade of scarlet. "I, er...I didn't….um...I'm sorry. I'll go now."

"Haley, it's okay-" Adam started, but before he knew it Haley had gotten up and ran off to the girls' dormitory. Huh. He rested his chin in his hand for a moment. He certainly liked Haley, but he wanted her to get over Dustin before he made a move or anything. Still thinking about Haley, he got up and went to bed.

Haley ran upstairs and directly into Mary who had been up late doing homework and waiting for her best friend. Haley was glad to see her up, because she had a lot to talk about. She spent the better part of an hour explaining the events of the evening, including the experience with Adam in the bathroom, but excluding the most recent events. She doubted Mary would approve of her kissing her brother.

Mary and Haley discussed the whole ordeal in detail, particularly the drugs. Mary wasn't too happy about Haley trying them out and made her promise to not get too crazy. Mary was also concerned that Alyson was hanging out with Dustin. She asked a lot of questions about that. Eventually they got tired and went to bed.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains the beginning of a non-consensual act exclusively involving two minors (fifteen year olds), but the non-consensual act is stopped in its tracks early on. There is also drug use between two minors (a fifteen year old and a seventeen year old).


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is about two and a half weeks later! We both got really busy.
> 
> Details regarding some of the mature content in this chapter are in the author's note at the end of the chapter. As always, if you have any questions regarding the mature content of this story, feel free to message us at hannah.ashley9496@gmail.com.

**3 September 1996**

The next day, Haley got up early and headed for the Gryffindor common room, hoping to catch Alyson on her way out. She stood in front of the portrait for about fifteen minutes, getting a lot of suspicious looks from the Gryffindors coming out. Finally, Alyson and Lidiane came out. Haley rushed them. Alyson felt her heart drop when she saw Haley. She had a feeling this wouldn’t go well.

"Alyson, hi, let's talk," she said, demanding Alyson come with her. "Sorry, Lidiane. We have important matters to discuss," she added with a fake smile.

"I'll see you at breakfast," Alyson called to Lidiane as Haley dragged her down the stairs and to some little corridor there wasn't anyone in yet. "What do you want to talk about?" she asked. "I heard about your break up with Dustin, I'm so sorry." She sounded sincere. She did really feel sorry for her friend. 

Haley laughed sarcastically. "Oh, you're sorry, really? Is that why you were hanging out with him just a couple hours after he dumped me? What could he have possibly have told you to make you actually _want_ to be around him after everything?" she started. "And besides that, why on earth would you be hanging out with him knowing that he dumped me? God, Alyson, I thought we were friends." 

Alyson started to feel annoyed. She could understand why Haley was upset, but she didn’t need to act so rude about things. "I was just trying to be nice to him. He was nice to me after I broke up with Eric," she explained, crossing her arms. "It was past curfew. It's not like I could have found you to talk until today anyway. Besides, I know you weren't by yourself. I seem to recall you were with Adam." She raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, I was with my best friend’s brother because my prick of an ex-boyfriend broke my spirit and my heart! It's not like I was with someone who has called me countless names over the years, plus dated and dumped one of my best friends in the worst way possible!" Haley was mad. How she dealt with her grief was her business. "Comforting Dustin," she scoffed. "Jesus, if anyone deserves to be treated like a piece of crap, it's him." 

"He hasn't been outright mean to me in ages!” Alyson defended, surprising herself. _Why are you defending him?_ she asked herself for just a moment, but she continued on anyway. “You act like you're such a saint, but you've said plenty of stuff behind my back and to my face as well!" Alyson’s annoyance was beginning to turn into anger. "Dustin told me what happened, and usually I'm not inclined to believe him, but I know you've always had a thing for Adam, even when you were with Dustin. I can't believe you're acting like _I'm_ the bad guy." 

Haley laughed again, just as sarcastically as before. "So, Dustin, the most manipulative person I know, told you what happened and rather than asking someone who you consider your best friend what actually happened, you believe him. Okay, I'm not even going to bother to change your narrow little mind." She stepped closer to Alyson. "Looks like I lost more than a boyfriend last night. I guess you won't be needing this since it won't be working anymore." She ripped the necklace she had given Alyson at the beginning of the term off. 

Alyson’s eyes narrowed when Haley ripped the necklace off. "Just so you know, I was going to ask you what happened," she said coldly, "but then you went and acted like a total bitch to me for no good reason." She grabbed the necklace from Haley. "Don't worry, I'll make sure to throw it out on my way to the Great Hall." Her tone was still cold and dark. 

"I see he's already starting to rub off on you," Haley snickered. "You two deserve one another." With that, she spun around and left Alyson standing there. She headed to the Great Hall for breakfast, and she ran into Dustin on the way. He didn't say anything to her, but it still made her mad to see him after talking to Alyson. She went into the Great Hall and looked for Mary. To her surprise, she was eating breakfast with Eric. Rolling her eyes, Haley took a seat with them.

"Hey!" Mary said, greeting her enthusiastically with a smile. Eric said hello as well. Then they noticed how mad and upset Haley looked. "What's wrong? What happened?" she asked, full of concern. She knew all about the break up, maybe Haley ran into Dustin or something. 

She told about the experience with Alyson, sparing no details just because Eric was there. After listening to the whole account, Mary was kind of mad at Alyson too. "I can't believe she would hang out with Dustin after that!" she exclaimed. She shook her head in disbelief. Eric wasn't completely in the loop, but hearing that Alyson was hanging around Dustin was reason for concern in and of itself.

"Me either," Eric agreed, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. As far as he cared, Dustin was a manipulative son of a bitch, and Alyson getting involved with him would never end well. "I'm sorry to hear about everything," he told Haley sincerely, though he felt awkward. He knew she didn't like him. 

"Thanks Eric," Haley replied, surprising Eric with her sincerity. They finished breakfast and went to their classes for the day. Haley and Alyson ignored each other, while Mary kept her distance from Alyson. Whenever they could, Alyson and Haley got as far away from each other as possible. After their last class, they left the classroom and Haley ran into Adam.

“Hey, I need to show you something,” he said. He seemed excited. Haley went along with him, and he brought her to the same bathroom they had been in the first time. “Okay, so there’s this party that some people I know are having tonight. I got this stuff, and I wanted you to come with me and try it. It’s called ecstasy! It makes you feel like dancing and having fun. What do you think?!” He was talking with his hands, and his face was bright with the same excitement his voice displayed.

Watching Adam’s excitement was enough to make Haley feel eager. She was drawn to him. “Yeah, that sounds awesome! I mean, as long as it’s not dangerous.” She trusted him.

"All right, cool!" Adam said happily. "We can take some right before the party-which won't be until later tonight-and then we're going to have such a great time. I think it'll lift your spirits." He gave her a big, charming smile. 

They went on to smoke some of the marijuana that he had left over from the night before they went their separate ways. Haley went to do her homework with Mary, though academics was the last thing on Haley’s mind. "Some of the seventh years are throwing a party, and we're invited. You're coming, right?" she asked, smiling goofily. She looked up from her book, which was on her lap as they sat across from each other on Mary’s bed in the girls’ dormitory.

"Of course," Mary replied, though she sounded less than enthusiastic. She had noticed Haley sounded a little off. "Did you two smoke some more?" she whispered, not wanting anyone else to overhear. She knew what her brother was like; he enjoyed getting pretty girls high or drunk, or both.

"Does it matter?" Haley snapped. Mary still didn’t like what was going on, but she decided to let it slide this time. They abandoned their studies in favor of chatting about everything that had been going on. "Anyway, what's going on with you and Eric? You seem to be getting kind of cozy.”

Mary blushed a little and averted her eyes. She had always had a little bit of an interest in Eric, but she had never expressed anything to Haley because he was in Gryffindor and a half-blood, and she knew Haley wouldn’t approve, even if Haley was always asking her about guys she was potentially interested in. "I felt bad for him after his breakup with Alyson, especially since he got beat up. I've just been keeping him company. He's really nice, and he's actually quite interesting once you get to know him...he's shy, I think that's why you and Dustin always thought he was boring." 

"Yeah. I feel like I see him in a different light since their break up. He had his hands full, it looks like," Haley said casually. She noticed Mary's blushing. Not wanting to embarrass Mary further, she added, "You should invite him too."

"I think I will," Mary agreed, appreciating the suggestion. She knew he would probably say no and that parties weren't really his thing. She didn't tell Haley this, but if Eric invited her to do something else, she'd probably skip out on the party. She bit her lip in thought.

"I'm going to find something to wear, okay? I'll see you later." Haley jumped up and went over to her own bed. 

“All right, I’m going to go find Eric. I’ll be back later if you need help with your outfit,” Mary told Haley before leaving the dormitory. She decided to look in the library first because that seemed to be his favorite place to study, and sure enough, that’s where she found him. He was at a desk among the transfiguration books. Mary sat down next to him. "Hey, there's this party tonight, and I was wondering if you wanted to go. I mean with me. I mean, it's going to be wild, and it's going to be thrown by some Slytherins so if you don't want to go I understand…" She trailed off. Why was she so nervous?

Eric smiled at how fast she was talking. She was adorable. "Thanks, Mary, but parties aren't really my thing. If you just wanted to hang out or something, I know something fun we could do. Not party fun, but fun nonetheless. I understand if you'd rather have party fun." He found himself really hoping she would pick spending time with him over the party.

"No!" Mary said quickly. "I mean, I like parties, but all of my friends are fighting, and honestly, I'd rather be with you."

"All right, awesome!" Eric said with a smile. He was very happy about getting to hang out with Mary. He found himself drawn to her.

"So what's this fun thing you have in mind?" Mary asked, curious. She felt more excited about hanging out with Eric than she had felt for the party. She realized she'd have to tell Haley she wasn't going anymore, but she'd deal with that later. Surely Haley wouldn’t be too upset.

"Actually, I'm going to surprise you. Just bring a sweater," Eric suggested. "Meet me, er, here when it gets dark." He was excited now. He planned to go to the top of the astronomy tower and lay out some pillows and a blanket and bring some food and have a picnic and watch the stars. He thought Mary would love it. 

"All right," Mary said, curious as to what he was planning. The mystery of it all made it even more exciting. "So I'll see you then?" 

\---

Lidiane had hung back and waited to see Haley leave. She doubled back and found Alyson still standing in the corridor they had went in to talk. "Are you okay? She looked murderous," she commented, full of concern.

Alyson was still angry. "Not really," she answered, shoving the necklace in her pocket. She didn't have the heart to throw it out. She explained everything that happened to Lidiane, who listened attentively.

"Haley shouldn't have gotten so mad at you," Lidiane agreed. "She liked Dustin for all those years and made you hang around him. Then you two finally start to get along, and she assumed just because there was a breakup you would automatically hate him more and blindly flock to her side."

Alyson nodded fervently. "Exactly! And I didn't even take his side, I wasn't going to take sides, I was going to talk to her today." She sighed. On top of this fight, she was still feeling a bit mentally exhausted from all of the drama that had been going on lately. 

After the last class of the day, Dustin caught up with her in one of the corridors. "Hey, did you hear there's a party on Friday? It's hosted by some Slytherin guys. It might help you raise your spirits, though. If you don't want to go, I was thinking that maybe we could do something?"

Alyson was stunned to hear that Dustin wanted to go to a party with her, and she was even more surprised to hear that he would be willing to sacrifice said party just to spend time with her. It was flattering. "I think I'd like to go," she answered truthfully. She had never been to a real party like that, and she thought maybe it would help keep her mind off of things and raise her spirits like Dustin said. "But Haley and I kind of had a falling out-well, we're completely ignoring each other-and I know you're not exactly on the best terms with her and Adam either. So maybe we could go then just leave if things get too dramatic?" she suggested.

Dustin laughed, knowing Adam's history of parties. "If I know him like I think I do, there will be no drama from either of them," he said grimly. "They'll either be the life of the party, or we won't hear a peep from them. I'd be more worried about people giving you hell for even being there if I were you. Just don't wear maroon," he added with a wink.

"Oh damn, there goes my plans of showing up in my maroon mini skirt," she teased. She liked the idea of Dustin picturing her in that skirt. It gave her butterflies. "I thought showing up in maroon and telling everyone about my Muggle childhood would be a great icebreaker," she continued. She winked, laughing a little bit. "What time and where is it?"

Dustin pictured her in a maroon mini skirt and had to try not to comment. She wasn't the type of person he thought would ever even wear one. He hated to admit it, but he liked what he pictured. He completely ignored the fact that she was Muggle-born so he didn't inadvertently do something he wasn't supposed to do. He did, however, allow himself to laugh at her smartass comment. "It's in this room that some people found on the seventh floor. No specific time, but don't show up before eight or I won't be there," he said like it mattered. "Just walk around thinking about the party. You'll find it."

"Oh, is that the room of requirement? I heard about that through the grapevine...I know exactly where it is and how to get in. Being in the same house as Harry Potter has its perks sometimes." Alyson smiled. 

Dustin started. "Oh, yeah. I didn't know if you knew about it. Figures, though. Anyway, I have things I need to do then. See you on Friday?" he asked. 

"See you on Friday." Alyson gave him a smile before they parted ways. She started thinking about what she was going to wear and felt a little sad because that was the kind of thing she would usually ask Haley for advice on. Lidiane would be discouraging of the party...she'd have to probably lie to her about the fact she was going. _Maybe I can ask my sister._

\---

**5 September 1996**

On Thursday, Alyson went into the Gryffindor common room after classes, and she told Lidiane she'd be hanging out with her older sister on Friday night. She felt a little guilty for lying, but she knew Lidiane would never let her hear the end of it if she knew she was going to this party. When she found her sister, Nicole, she explained all the necessary parts of the story. Nicole went to her fair share of parties, so she was perfectly willing to cover for Alyson just in case Lidiane asked something, and she helped Alyson pick out an outfit. 

\---

**6 September 1996**

Nicole and Alyson had decided on a sleeveless black bodycon dress that was a couple inches above mid-thigh and black flats. It was Nicole’s dress. She said the dress showed enough without showing too much, and Alyson quite agreed. Since it was sleeveless, she was going to bring along a little jean jacket just in case she got chilly. Nicole loaned her some gold bracelets and earrings to match, and then she did Alyson's hair and makeup for her. Her auburn hair was curled, her hazel eyes were complemented by a smoky look, and the rest of her makeup coordinated as well. They had some time to kill after Alyson was done getting ready, so they just sat and chatted, which slightly eased Alyson’s conscious because it meant she hadn't completely lied to Lidiane. Right before Alyson left, Nicole did some final touch ups on her hair and makeup.

Alyson walked into the party at about quarter after eight. She was surprisingly nervous. She hoped Dustin was already there because she would feel awkward as hell if he wasn’t. She looked around the room, looking for Dustin. The room looked great. There were silver streamers hanging from the ceiling and crystal drink fountains. The tables were silver with green table runners, and the chairs were silver too. While she was looking around the room, she didn’t see Dustin, but she saw a fifth year she recognized as a Ravenclaw, and she felt a little less out of place. 

Dustin was running a bit behind on schedule. He didn’t arrive to the party until half past eight. _Shit. I hope she’s still here,_ he found himself thinking (despite the fact he kept telling himself he didn’t really care). He surveyed the room for Alyson and saw her standing by one of the green clothed tables. He decided he wanted to surprise her. While she was looking away, he snuck up behind her. “We don’t like your kind around these parts,” he whispered in her ear.

Alyson jumped a little at the unexpected sound, but she quickly recognized the voice as Dustin’s, and her muscles relaxed. She laughed and turned around to face him.

“Sorry I’m late,” Dustin apologized in a normal tone, no longer whispering.

Alyson gave him a smile. “It’s okay, I don’t mind,” she told him, though truthfully she had felt a little awkward standing around without him. She took a sip of the drink she had been working on while she waited for Dustin. “People are still coming in. I guess it’s going to be a pretty big party.” Just then, loud music began to play.

Dustin looked around, scrutinizing the company. "Yeah, they usually are," he as he started to pour himself a drink. The glass bowl he took his drink from refilled itself once Dustin was done filling his cup with the orange liquid. "Refillable liquor bowls. Nice touch," he commented. He raised his cup. "To your first real party! May you have a great time and not regret it tomorrow morning," He toasted to her. 

Alyson did the cheers thing with their cups and thanked him before finishing off her drink. She poured herself another. "I like these refillable liquor bowls, they're a good idea." She was finishing this drink much more quickly than the last. She had to admit, she was excited to drink, and she was also hoping to calm her nerves a little. As she drank, she looked around the room some more. There were a lot of people in the room now, all mostly from Slytherin, or at least that’s what Alyson assumed. They had started to dance.

As Alyson was observing, Haley got up on the table and started dancing. Of course she would, Alyson thought bitterly. She raised her eyebrows at the sight. “Looks like someone’s having a good time,” she joked. She took several more sips of her drink.

Dustin didn’t want to talk about Haley. He moved closer to Alyson. "You look lovely, by the way," he commented, smoothly changing the subject. "I like curls on you." He drained his cup and raised his hand. "Care to dance?" 

“Thank you," Alyson said, blushing a little bit. She finished her drink and put the empty cup down before taking his hand. "I'd love to dance." They moved out into the crowd and started to dance. Dustin was positively shocked by how well Alyson danced. Her body flowed so gracefully, and damn, she was dancing more suggestively than he ever would have expected too. He realized she was surprising him a lot tonight. He never pegged her for the type to wear a short skirt or a short dress, or the type to drink, or even the type to dance with him, let alone suggestively. He had never even expected her to come with him to the party.

Dustin wasn’t the only one who was surprised. It was crazy to her how so much had changed over the past couple of days. Breaking up with Eric, falling out with Haley, and getting along with Dustin? It seemed like some kind of teen drama to Alyson. Nevertheless, there she was, tipsy and dancing with Dustin Blank. 

\---

Haley tore through her entire wardrobe trying to find the perfect outfit. She finally decided on some black sequined leggings and a black off the shoulder sweater that showed just a little skin. It was long sleeved just in case she went outside, but she had always scrunched up the sleeves. She chose some diamond shaped black and white earrings and a studded black bracelet to go with it, then finished it off with black open toed pumps. Of course, she still had a couple of hours until the party, so she decided to paint her nails and just sit around and do her hair and makeup.  
Haley perfected her blonde hair and got dressed before going down to the common room. She found Mary sitting on the couch in jeans and a big pink sweater. "So you're not coming then?" Haley asked, half joking. 

Mary looked up from her seat. “I’m not feeling too good,” she lied. She felt terrible for lying, but she just felt too embarrassed to say anything to Haley about Eric. 

"Well, I hope you feel better. How do I look?" Haley asked. 

Mary looked her up and down. She looked perfect. "You look fabulous. Have fun!"

Haley hugged Mary and left, headed for the seventh floor. She found the room of requirement, which was finely decorated with Slytherin’s colors as its scheme. Adam was standing in the middle of the room chatting it up with some of the boys throwing the party. He was supplying the booze, so they were working out payment details.

Haley poured herself one of the drinks that she sniffed out to be alcoholic and waited for Adam to finish. She saw Alyson walk in and thought about going over to say something but decided against it. She drained her drink instead. Adam finally finished and came over to her. His expression was bright again. He was happy to see her. He poured Haley another drink and handed it to her then poured one for himself. "Bottoms up," he said before dropping an ecstasy tab in each of their drinks. They dissolved quickly, and the traces of white quickly disappeared as well. Adam and Haley turned their cups up.

Adam gulped down his drink quite quickly. Ecstasy was one of his favorites because it made everything seem so much more fun. He watched Haley finish her drink and hoped she liked it too.

She didn't feel the effects of the drug immediately, but they started to kick in about thirty minutes later. She had also had several more drinks while waiting for the drug to begin to work, so she was extra loose from those as well. She decided she absolutely needed to dance. She jumped up on one of the tables. "Woo, let's get this party started!" she called to everyone. Taking a hint, the DJ turned the music up and dimmed the lights even further. Haley started dancing on the table, quite suggestively too. 

The ecstasy had started to kick in for Adam too. He jumped up on the table and began to dance behind Haley, placing his hands on her hips. They were grinding on each other and Adam started raising his shirt up. Everything felt so much more exciting. They both felt like they were on an absolute emotional high. The closest thing Adam could think to compare it to was poor euphoria.

A lot of the girls closer to the table were clearly checking out Adam, but Haley grabbed his waist and slid down his body, enjoying her heightened feelings. "Hey, who wants to see if I can take a shot from between my boobs?" Haley asked the small crowd around her. She didn't wait for an answer. She instructed someone to pour her a shot, and she placed the cup between her breasts. She bent over backwards, which got a respective applause in itself, and dumped the shot down into her mouth. Most of it spilled, but she didn't care. She stood back up and bowed.

People were laughing, but they also clapped, including Adam. "Bravo, well done!" he cheered enthusiastically. 

Haley was laughing until she saw Alyson dancing with Dustin. "Hey, Adam, I'll be right back," she said absent-mindedly, her eyes still Dustin and Alyson. She clumsily hopped off the table and weaved through the crowd to find them. "Hey, Alyson. Want to dance?" she asked. Haley was sweaty and breathing hard, but her eyes shined with excitement. Her mind was elsewhere, so the fact she and Alyson weren't talking didn't occur to her.

Alyson knew Adam's reputation and suspected both of them were on something, though she wasn't sure what. Even though she already missed Haley, she was still mad at her. "No thanks, I'm good!" she answered, not removing her hands from Dustin's shoulders. 

Haley backed up and shifted her gaze to Dustin. "Hey sexy, miss me yet?" She licked her lower lip then bit it and winked at him. Dustin did miss her body, but he didn't want to say anything in front of Alyson. He didn't want to say anything about it at all, in fact, because he was worried something might come out that he didn't want her to hear. 

Alyson looked at Dustin and wondered if he still missed Haley. Of course he probably did, it had only been a few days, and she still missed Eric. God, she didn't want to think about him right now, she wanted to focus on having a good time with Dustin. "Let's go get a drink," she said to Dustin, ignoring Haley initially then shooting her a bit of a glare. 

"Wait, wait," Haley said. She put her hand on Alyson's shoulder. "You don't want to spend the party with the life of it?" Haley asked Alyson with a laugh. "Fine, have fun. You deserve each other," she added with a smirk before dancing off and jumping back up on a table and offering belly shots. 

Alyson just rolled her eyes at Haley. "Come on," she said to Dustin, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the drinks table. She poured drinks for both of them and handed one to Dustin. "You okay after that?" she asked, taking a gulp of her drink. She knew she'd be a bit shaken if that happened with her and Eric. 

Dustin was not okay. He was mad all over again. He drained his cup twice before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine. I wonder what drugs Adam has her on is all. I know he's the reason all this Muggle booze is here," he said, his tone a little bitter. "Not that it matters,” he continued on. “I'm here with you, not her. And, wow, you look hot tonight." He drained his cup again. He was feeling positively drunk already.

Alyson finishing draining her cup. "Why thank you," she said, giving him a flirtatious smile. She wasn't quite drunk yet, but she was definitely more than buzzed. She gulped down a couple more cups. She didn’t realize she had lost track of how much she had to drink. "You know, you look quite gorgeous yourself," she told him, putting her cup down. Haley and Adam, despite being the life of the party, weren't even on her mind anymore, nor was Eric.

Haley had guys taking shots out of her belly button when a girl stepped up. She took a belly shot off Haley, and all the guys around them went wild. Haley, enjoying the attention, sat up, pulled the girl forward, then kissed her. Haley didn't even know who she was. Adam jumped on to the table and kissed Haley, then the other girl. "Woo!" he called. The other people got a little uncomfortable and started chatting elsewhere. Adam got down and went to get them more drinks. 

Dustin had his eyes on the commotion around Adam and Haley, and when Adam started heading their way, he knew he wasn't going to be able to control himself. Before he got the chance to leave, Adam was right next to him. "Excuse me, man," Adam said, nudging Dustin a little.

"Of all the drinks here, you need this one specifically?" Dustin asked rudely. "Besides, the liquor here sucks," he continued. He noticed his speech was beginning to slur a little…or maybe he was just imagining it, he was too drunk to tell. 

Alyson was practically cringing. She came to this party to escape all of the drama. 

"Oh, wow, my bad," Adam said sarcastically. He nodded towards Alyson, "Why don't you ask your little Mudblood date to order the supplies next time? Get out of my way." He nudged Dustin a little harder and poured the drinks he came for.

The Mudblood comment surprisingly stuck a bit of a nerve with Dustin, especially considering how he thought the same thing about her blood status. He felt his blood boiling further. Before he knew what he was doing, he punched Adam square in the jaw, causing Adam to drop his glasses of alcohol. Alyson watched in horror, unsure of what to do. She stepped back and felt her stomach begin to twist. She wished she and Dustin could just get out of there. 

Adam was stunned for a moment. His jaw ached. He touched it and saw blood on his fingers. He then laughed, which was a little unnerving. He looked back up at Dustin with a murderous stare and gravely said, "Go on then. Teach me a lesson. I'm sure your peers would love to know how much you care to stick up for your Mudblood girlfriend." A few people had seen the punch and were now watching attentively to see what would happen. 

_Great, what a situation I’m in now,_ Dustin thought to himself sarcastically. If he said Alyson wasn’t the reason he punched Adam, she would be offended, and all chances he had with her for post-party fun would be ruined. If he didn’t say Alyson wasn’t the reason he punched Adam, his reputation would be ruined. Of course, Adam was probably too high and drunk right now to remember most of the details from the party, and hopefully the same applied for all of the people watching. Dustin knew some of this would be a blur even for him. “Let’s go,” he said to Alyson, grabbing her by the hand and beginning to lead her out of the room. She willingly went with him, grateful to be leaving the party. The whole situation was awkward as hell.

"Too scared to fight me, Dustin?" Adam taunted loudly. "Now that everyone knows your perfect little reputation is ruined, you may as well defend her honor!" 

More people turned to watch, and a couple of people caught on to the fact a Muggle-born was at the party. Dustin turned around and gave Adam the finger before storming off again, dragging Alyson along with him. "God, I am so fucking pissed," he exclaimed as soon as they got out of the room of requirement.

\---

Mary got up from the couch as soon as Haley left and headed for the library. She found Eric standing there waiting for her with his hands behind his back. When she walked up to him he pulled a single rose out. He was smiling expectantly.

"Oh, thank you! That's so sweet," Mary said, taking the rose and giving Eric a very happy smile. She was flattered. She gave him a hug him, and when the hug broke, Eric asked, "Shall we go?" Mary nodded enthusiastically, and he began to lead her to the mystery location.

Eric led her to the astronomy tower. They went up to the very top, which was outside. It was a little chilly, so Mary was glad she had worn her big pink sweater on. He had set up a night picnic for them. There were a couple big, multicolored quilt-like blankets that made a soft spot for them to sit on and some pillows to lean on. He had gone down to the kitchens and gotten the house elves to make them a little meal-pizza and a bottle of apple cider, to be specific-which was sitting on the blankets. A couple of purple candles sat around the set up, and he lit them with his wand so they had some light to eat by. "What do you think?" he asked her. His palms were a little sweaty. What if she didn’t like this? What if she wasn’t interested? _She seemed to like the rose._

Mary was very impressed. Once again, she felt flattered. "It's all quite lovely," she told him with a smile. "Much better than that party. I'm glad I came here instead." She sat down and looked up at the starry sky. Eric sat down next to her.

He grabbed the bottle of apple cider and poured them each a cup. "I know we haven't been talking long, but I really like hanging out with you. I hope you don't think this is too much," he said. He was still nervous.

"Oh, not at all," Mary said, taking her cup and thanking him. "I really like hanging out with you too. I always have." She smiled. 

Eric was shocked. He also felt relieved. So the feelings were mutual. "You've always liked me? I didn't know. It always seemed like no one really liked me but Alyson," he said, immediately regretting mentioning her. "I mean, I'm not complaining or anything. You've always been awesome in my book." 

"Why, thank you. Of course I like you. Why do you think I constantly make excuses to spend time with you? I'm really not all that bad at arithmency." Mary winked. She really did like spending time with Eric. The feelings she had for him weren’t quite like the ones Haley had described having for any of her boyfriends, but they seemed to be close enough.

Eric smiled shyly. He had always guessed but never wanted to point it out. "I always thought you did seem too smart to need help," he laughed. He looked up at the sky.

Mary looked up at the sky too and carefully slid her hand over closer to Eric's so they were touching. Eric felt Mary's fingers graze his and felt his stomach flutter. He scooted his hand closer and intertwined their fingers. They didn't say anything anymore, just enjoyed the feeling of each other's hands.

They sat like that for a while, just enjoying the view of the stars. After a little while Mary quietly said, "This is nice." She was still looking up at the sky. 

"I know. God why can't we do this more often? I would love to just spend forever right here," Eric replied. "I mean, I guess we could do it more often. It just seems like with everything that's happened over the past few days, maybe we shouldn't come out in public doing this." He held their hands up for a second. 

Mary looked over at him, an idea occurring to her. If she had feelings for him, why put things off? "We could do this more often in secret, if you want to. I'd love to. We don't have to tell the others. I know that would just make everyone's lives more miserable." 

Eric couldn't stop smiling. Mary had read his mind. "I mean, I don't want you to have to lie to anyone, but I want to get to know you without making everyone else miserable."

"Oh yeah, same here. I think secrecy would be beneficial to both of us." Mary smiled a little. She felt a little excited. "Here's to a successful Romeo and Juliet, preferably not ending in death." 

\---  
Haley came over to see what the commotion was about, but by the time she got there, Dustin had left. Adam was still standing by the table with a stony expression and a drink in his hand. He gave it to her. She took it gladly and took a sip before speaking. “What happened? Why are you bleeding?”

"Well, Dustin decided to take it upon himself to defend the drink bowl and that Mudblood girl’s honor tonight. He punched me then ran off like the scared little bitch he is," he explained. "But that is neither here nor there. What do you say you and I get out of here?" He held his hand out for her to take. She hesitated but took his hand. They were both still feeling elated and restless; it would be a long night.

Adam led Haley out of the party, still holding her hand. He actually wasn't sure where he was taking her yet, he just wanted to leave the party and find somewhere more private, perhaps a classroom. He was still pissed off at Dustin.

They ended up sneaking around the castle trying to be quiet but failing miserably. They were dancing with the suits of armor and with each other then slipping out of sight just before anyone (including the ghosts) could catch a glimpse of them. Adam’s anger faded away quickly, and they ended up in the dungeons snogging for the whole world to see. If they had been listening, they would have heard the teacher coming down the corridor, but they were too lost in one another.

"And what do you think you two are doing?" Professor Snape asked in his usual monotone. Adam pulled away from Haley a bit, turning towards the head of Slytherin. 

"What does it look like?" he asked with a sheepish grin.

Haley was mortified. She elbowed Adam in the ribs. "Professor, we, er... we were looking for somewhere else, you know, instead of the common room..and, well, er...this was the closest..." She trailed off under Professor Snape's gaze. 

Professor Snape hated when students snogged in public. "I want you both to go back to the common room immediately. 30 points from Slytherin." That effectively put them 10 points behind Gryffindor.

"Sir, that's ridiculous!" Adam protested. He wasn't going to let some old teacher ruin his good time with Haley. "We have every right to be here."

Snape narrowed his eyes even further. "Another 10 points for insolence. Mister Smith, you would do well to remember that students are not permitted to be out past nine in the evening," he said coolly. 

"Haley, let's go before he takes more points," Adam said sharply. He grabbed her hand and started to walk off.

"Not so fast," Snape said, stopping them in their tracks. "Miss Carver, I detect a trace amount of what I believe to be a Muggle recreational drink on yours and Mister Smith's breath. Any idea as to why that might be?" 

Haley blushed and looked at her feet. Professor Snape had always been one of her favorite teachers, and she didn't want to go into detail about anything they had done. She looked up at him and tried to look innocent. "No, sir, no idea." 

"Then I suppose that means the both of you won't mind a little test to confirm this?" Snape asked, not believing her for a second. "It won't take very long. It only requires the drinking of a potion. Since as you both planned on being out late anyway, this shouldn't be taking away from your time." As far as Snape was concerned, there was only one right answer. He looked over both of his students. 

Adam opened his mouth to speak. “Okay, _fine,_ we may have had a little bit to drink," he said, slurring. Haley put her hand on her face. "So, what? Are we hurting anyone? No..." Adam was acting goofy, and Haley knew they were going to get in trouble. 

"Sir, I'm sorry. Please don't give us detention, my parents will kill me," Haley begged. "It's just a little, and we're passing all of our courses. It won't happen again!"

Snape looked at them for a moment. He wasn't above playing favorites, but he hated when his favorite students acted so stupid. "Two weeks’ detention. Your parents will not be informed," he decided. "But if I ever catch you under the influence of a vile Muggle drink again on school property-or off school property in your case, Miss Carver, seeing as you are still an underage witch-the punishment will be much more severe, and your parents _will_ be informed." His usual monotone was serious. 

"At least he didn't take any more points," Adam joked to Haley right in front of Snape. She elbowed him again.

"Thank you so much, sir. I won't forget this," Haley said gratefully. 

Snape turned to Adam. "I expect you're behind the rumors I've been hearing about some party on the seventh floor. Consider this punishment for that, as well," he added. "Report to my office after your next classes." He turned on his heel and walked off. 

Adam started laughing as soon as Snape walked off. "Can you believe that?" he asked Haley, still laughing. "Thinks he can pull one over on us. Two weeks of detention is nothing." He couldn't stop laughing. For some reason he just found it hilarious how Snape let him and Haley get off so easily. "This was definitely worth it," he said happily, referring to the whole night.

"Christ, Adam, I'm not trying to get in trouble for this! I'm still underage, remember?" Haley said, upset but still giddy. Adam poked the side of her ribs and made her laugh. "Ugh, you're lucky you're so bloody cute," she conceded. She started kissing him again. They eventually pulled apart and decided to roam about the castle for more adventure despite their run-in with Snape. Their high was still in full swing. Adam suggested the astronomy tower so they could dance under the stars, which sounded positively perfect to Haley. They made their way up.

Haley and Adam stopped at the foot of the tower and he pulled out a joint. He lit it and handed it to Haley, then pulled out a flask and took a sip.

Eric and Mary were still up on the astronomy tower. By this point they had moved the blankets towards one of the walls and had pillows propped up against the wall to rest their backs against. Mary had her head on Eric's shoulder and her arm wrapped around his middle, and Eric's arm was around Mary's waist. Mary thought she heard something. "Did you hear that?" she asked nervously, a little afraid of getting caught.

Haley and Adam continued stumbling up the stairs and burst through the door. At first they didn't see Eric and Mary, who immediately jumped apart. Adam was spinning Haley around like a professional ballroom dancer (or so it seemed through his eyes). He stopped when he noticed the two lovebirds on the roof.

"Well, well, what do we have here," Adam teased. "What are you two doing up here?"

They could tell Adam and Haley looked positively drunk and probably high too. They noticed the joint which confirmed the later, and they stood up. Mary felt her palms begin to sweat, and she thought she sensed the same level of nervousness radiating off of Eric.

"Eric was just helping me with my astronomy homework," Mary lied, hoping, though kind of hating herself for hoping, that they were inebriated enough to accept that answer. She then felt a little angry at her brother. Haley looked completely wasted, and she knew Adam had played a role in it. 

Haley stood there and nodded at her friend. "That makes sense. Putting the candles out might make it easier to see, though," she suggested and giggled. She knew what was going on but didn't want to make a scene. Eric was all right in her book, even if he was extremely boring. Mary blushed a little at Haley's comment, and she shot Eric a quick look that said “sorry about this whole mess.” Eric felt just as embarrassed, if not more, about this situation as Mary. His cheeks were even pinker than hers.

Adam accepted the answer and plopped down on the blanket next to them. He gave Mary a goofy grin. When Adam sat down, Mary glared at him. "What are you two on? Did you drink?" she asked. She could smell the alcohol, and she had seen Adam high enough times to know they probably weren't just drunk.

"Marijuana. Want some?" Adam asked, holding the joint over his head to hand it to her. 

"Don't mind if I do," Haley interjected and grabbed it from in front of Mary. She gave it back to Adam and continued exploring the roof, skipping around and humming. 

Oh God, Haley really was high as a kite. Not that Mary was staunchly anti-drugs or anti-drinking, but she was appalled that Adam would let Haley get this trashed when she was in a vulnerable position. "God damn it, Adam, are you incapable of impressing a girl without getting her high and wasted first? I've noticed that's your style, preferably if the girl's emotionally vulnerable at the time." She glared at him some more. She was so angry at her brother for treating Haley this way. She could feel her insides begin to turn. She was also nervous about the fact her brother and Haley had caught her and Eric on the roof. _Maybe it will be okay if we can just keep it hidden from Alyson._

Adam winked at his sister then watched Haley fondly. "She wanted to. What was I supposed to do, say no?" He laughed. "And anyway, not that it's your business, I actually do really like her. Always have."

"Of course you were supposed to say no! Jesus Christ, Adam, do you have no sense of decency?" Mary sighed, exasperated. "And have you really always liked her? Really?" She doubted her brother's sincerity. She had seen him break more than one heart before, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to her best friend.

"Yes, little sister. And she likes me, so bugger off. It's not like we're doing the bad stuff anyway. Well, not yet," Adam added with a wink. He got up and started twirling Haley around again. 

Mary turned to Eric with pleading eyes, and he understood immediately. "Let's go," he said quietly. They both grabbed all of the stuff and shoved it into Eric's bag then quickly headed off. Adam and Haley were too absorbed in themselves to even notice the fact Mary and Eric were leaving, but Mary gave her brother another glare as they left anyway.

"My sister can be such a wet blanket," Adam sighed. He quickly looked around and noticed Mary and Eric had left. "I'm glad she and her new Gryffindor boyfriend left."

"Yeah, she can be. But that's why I love her," Haley said fondly. "She's the yin to my yang, the celery to my hot sauce…the…I don't know. She keeps me balanced." Adam laughed and agreed. They finished the joint and the flask on the roof, where they stayed until Haley got bored. Adam suggested they go back to the party since they were both still wanting to drink. They headed back down the stairs and back into the room of requirement.

\---

Dustin couldn't believe he had thrown a punch at Adam. He was even madder that he hadn't fought back! The nerve of him to call him out in front of everyone! His blood was still boiling. Part of him was even a little mad at Alyson for being Muggle-born although she couldn't help it and he knew it. None of this would have happened if she weren't, though. And now his reputation was trashed in Slytherin thanks to the fact along with Adam idiocrasy. 

Dustin wouldn't talk to Alyson for the first few minutes after they left. He was too busy fuming in his own head. God, why did this have to _happen?!_ Alyson was too drunk and too upset about everything that went down to really notice that Dustin wasn't talking to her at first. They were just aimlessly walking around. However, she noticed after a few minutes and asked, "Are you okay?"

Dustin didn't want to answer. He didn't want to ruin his opportunity with Alyson. Instead, he stopped them in their tracks and kissed her full on the mouth. He pushed her up against the wall and wound his hand in her auburn hair. He didn't want to ruin his chances, so he didn't push her like he had Haley. He let her react and planned on reacting accordingly. 

Alyson was taken aback and nearly pushed him away. She probably would have if she was sober, but once she realized what was happening her first thought was, _Damn, Eric never kissed me like this._ She kissed him back, placing her arms around his waist and pulling him closer. 

Dustin was ecstatic that she didn't push him off, but he didn't want to push too hard so he pulled back. Alyson’s arms were still around him. "You're drunk," he laughed. "I like you drunk. And to answer your question, I'm better than okay." He kissed her mouth again then kissed down her neck. Chills ran up Alyson’s body, something Dustin felt

"I'm glad to hear that," she said with a bit of a smile as he kissed her neck. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation of his warm lips on her body. He eventually reached her clavicle, which felt good, but she realized she'd probably regret it when she was sober if he went down any further. She gently cupped his face and pulled his head back up. She kissed his mouth again, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Want to go somewhere else?" she asked. Her words were now a little slurred.

"Somewhere more private?" Dustin asked hopefully. He was as drunk with lust as he had been from the drinks he had. He kissed her cheek back to her ear and nibbled her earlobe, hoping it would elicit a positive answer for his question. He knew she would probably say no, even with a buzz; she was that type of girl. He would make her say yes to something, however. 

Alyson thought about his offer for a moment. She knew she wouldn't say yes if she was sober, at least she thought she wouldn't...but she wasn't sober, and she had waited way too long for any physical contact with Eric. Dustin and she had already done more than her and Eric ever had, and Dustin acted like more of a boyfriend to her than Eric ever did, plus the sensation of his lips and his hands felt so _nice._ "Yeah, I'd like that," she found herself saying, her drunken logic being enough to convince her. 

Dustin had to conceal the fact that he was completely shocked. His jaw dropped and everything when she agreed. He took her hand and led her to the nearest place he could think of that was private enough: a corridor that almost nobody used except for these purposes. Alyson only stumbled a little bit.

As soon as they got there, Alyson let go of Dustin's hand and pulled him to her by the collar of his shirt. She kissed his mouth. "I'm done with passive guys," she said quietly before kissing him again, once again wrapping her arms around his neck. 

Dustin almost laughed. The night couldn't have gone any more perfectly. He pushed her back against the wall, not wanting her to get the power. He bit her lip then backed up completely from her. She remained against the wall, her eyes full of lust. "Now, here's my dilemma." He started pacing. "You're going to regret this in the morning and never talk to me again. So do I keep going and risk it, or sneak you back before we go too far? I'm leaning towards the latter."

Alyson hesitated, thinking about how yeah, she'd probably regret this in the morning when she was sober...but maybe she wouldn't, and right now she _really_ wanted to snog Dustin. "You're drunk too," she pointed out, as if that made a difference in what he was saying. 

Dustin snorted. "Please, this is second nature to me. Besides, I'm not the one who has morals here," he said, then quietly laughed at his joke. Then he stepped closer so their bodies were almost touching. "If you can tell me you won't regret this tomorrow, I won't stop." 

Alyson thought about his statement for a minute, not that that did much good, because her brain was kind of foggy. She handled liquor well, but she wasn't quite as used to alcohol as Dustin was, and she had had more than she ever did before. "I won't regret it," she assured. She wasn't sure if sober her would regret it at this point, but drunk her really wanted to do this.

Dustin decided that was consent enough. He kissed her with a new ferocity then lifted her legs up and wrapped them around his waist. He didn't really care if she did regret it; she had said she wouldn't and that's all that mattered, according to his own drunk logic. Her lips were soft and tasted of alcohol.

Alyson kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and adjusting her legs so they were a little more comfortable. She felt the same sense of electricity between her and Dustin that she had felt earlier. He began to move his hands up her thighs, which gave her a tingling sensation until he started to get a little higher up. Even in her drunken state, red flags began to raise in her mind. She grabbed one of his wrists and turned her head away, breaking the kiss. "Dustin...." she began, trying to find the words to explain to him. "Maybe another time." Her head was still turned away.

Dustin felt his stomach twist a little in frustration. He moved his hands back to her waist, though he was frustrated, and moved his lips to her ear. "Come on, Alyson. Don't you like the way it feels?" he whispered smoothly. 

"Well, yeah," Alyson said hesitantly, because she really did, "but..." She trailed off. She was too drunk to come up with a coherent reason; she just knew it felt like a red flag right then, that was all. "Can't we still kiss?" she asked, still very much wanting to snog.

Dustin kissed her on the neck then put her down. "Maybe I should just take you back to your tower," he suggested, frustrated that she would tease him and not let him go farther. His stomach was twisting up in anger a little more.

"Maybe we could keep kissing," Alyson suggested instead, a little disappointed he put her down.

Dustin laughed a little. He was still frustrated that she teased him then stopped him from going farther, but she had let him go farther than expected, sooner than he ever would have guessed. He could probably get his way with her in the foreseeable future if he played his cards right. "Come on, I'll walk you back to the Gryffindor Tower," he said, hiding his frustration and disappointment. He took her hand, and the two of them began to walk back to the tower. Alyson felt her heart sink in disappointment, but at least things didn’t end poorly.

Dustin began to care less and less for the logical option as they walked. He wanted to go further with her. Before they got to the common room, Dustin stopped her. "Hey, any chance you'd want to go back to the party?" he asked. He was tired of playing the nice guy. He wanted his way, and planned to get it.

"Sure!" Alyson agreed, glad she wasn't going back to the common room yet. She liked being with Dustin, plus the party itself had been fun. She also didn’t want to run into Eric in the common room. "I'd like that."

They walked back to the party and snuck in. It was still in full swing. Everyone was heavily drunk and couldn't recall the scene that had presented itself before them earlier. Dustin poured them more drinks and held his cup up. "Here's to good company," he said. 

Alyson smiled a little and raised her cup as well before drinking down the whole thing. "Let's go dance," she suggested, grabbing Dustin's hand then dragging him out to the dance floor.

Dustin danced a little uncomfortably because of the company around them. He loosened up after a song. They started waltzing to odd songs and dirty dancing to others. 

Alyson managed to sober up a little bit after eating some food and refraining from drinking more, but she was still considerably tipsy. While her and Dustin were in the middle of dirty dancing, she saw Adam and Haley walk in. Oh, shit. "Hey, did you want to leave?" she asked Dustin, turning around and looking at him. She was hoping he wouldn't notice Adam. She knew it wouldn’t end well if he did.

Haley and Adam were so out of it at this point that they didn't even notice the party had died down. They were lost in their own world of touching and feeling everything and dancing to the beat. 

Dustin had sobered up as well, though only a little bit, but he didn't notice the newcomers to the party. "Yeah, I have something in mind for us to do," he said suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows at her. 

Adam's hands were quite low on Haley's hips right now. A couple of people watched them dance because they were, by the far, the most enthusiastic dancers at this point. A few people also started to whisper about how crazy Haley had been acting earlier.

"Oh really now?" Alyson replied, raising her eyebrows a little as well. She was a bit uneasy about his suggestion due to the events from earlier, but she wanted to leave the party. "Let's go then." She gently grabbed Dustin's arm and they began to walk out.

Dustin noticed Haley and Adam at just the wrong time. He was just drunk enough to be furious all over again. His stomach twisted and his blood began to boil. He pulled his hand out of Alyson's grip and walked over to them. Alyson noticed him pull his wand out once he was close to the pair. It happened too fast for her to be able to stop anything. He pointed his wand at Adam's back and said, "Expelliarmus!" Haley noticed him just at the right time and pushed Adam out of the way. Instead, she was his full force in the chest by Dustin’s spell. She flew backwards, slamming against the wall. Alyson gasped. She ran over to Haley and knelt down so she was at her level. "Are you okay?" she asked, all thoughts of how angry she was at her vanished.

Haley was completely shocked. The world that had been so bright thanks to the ecstasy slowed down. She shook her head to orient herself, all feelings of intoxication gone. She stood up with Alyson's help but didn't answer her question. Instead, she also pulled out her wand quicker than could be stopped and pointed it at Dustin. "Stupefy!" she called. The spell hit its target but only barely. It clipped his right arm and caused him to drop his wand, which he quickly recovered. 

Alyson was still buzzed, but this situation was making her feel sober, at least to an extent. She finally pulled out her wand, but Adam was quicker than her. "Expelliarmus!" he called out, pointing his wand at Dustin, this time causing Dustin to fly back and hit the wall. 

Alyson couldn't believe they were fighting like this. She pointed her wand at Adam while Dustin was quickly getting up. "Petrificus Totalus!" Adam froze and fell over. As that was happening, Dustin pointed his wand at Haley. 

"Levicorpus!" He cast, but Haley dodged it. She aimed for his wand and tried for the disarming spell, but he deflected it. Adam unfroze and pointed his wand at Dustin's back, his eyes cold and hard. He began to cast the stinging hex.

"Adam!" Haley jumped in. She didn't like Dustin any more than Adam, but that was a bad spell for the middle of a party. Adam gave her a murderous glance but lowered his wand. Dustin knew what was going on at this point, so he quickly turned around to protect his back from Adam.

Alyson suddenly grabbed Dustin's arm and dragged him out of the room of requirement. She was fuming. She didn’t let go of him until they were gone. When she did, she almost tossed his arm to the side. "What the bloody hell was that?!" she demanded angrily, crossing her arms. She was so mad at him for causing trouble with Adam and Haley. 

Dustin glared at her for a long moment, at a loss for words. Finally, he took a deep breath and quietly said, "I didn't mean to hit her." He wanted to go back in and finish what he started, but he knew Alyson would sooner use an unforgivable curse than let him back in. He had a lot of angst built up and knew exactly why: the snogging session had gone awry. "I'm sorry. I may have...overreacted a bit.”

Alyson laughed dryly. "Overreacted a bit is quite the understatement," she commented. "I figured you didn't mean to hit her, I noticed she jumped in the way. However, you still intended to do that to Adam." She glared at him for a second then sighed, her anger beginning to simmer away. Tonight was supposed to be fun for both of them, not a mess. "I'm not saying I agree with what you did, but let's get out of here, we were supposed to have fun tonight," she said, heading towards the hall they had snogged in earlier. She figured maybe she could cheer him up.

Dustin, who noticed the direction they were going, let her lead him. He already started formulating a plan to loosen Alyson up a little. The alcohol advantage was gone, but he knew she wanted him. It was only a matter of time. He reached out to hold her hand and play with her fingers. "Where are we going?" he asked her, feigning innocence.

Alyson almost smiled when Dustin held her hand. It was still surprising to her how sweet Dustin could be. "I think you know," she replied with raised eyebrows and a bit of a smile. When they reached the corridor, she stopped and let go of his hand, wrapping her arms around his neck instead before leaning forward and kissing him

Dustin kissed her back with gusto, not holding back this time. This was his shot. He decided to test her limits and then push them right there. He began touching her in places he had previously avoided. She started to pull back, but he pushed her against the wall and kept going. 

Alyson nearly pushed him away, startled by his sudden boldness, but she decided against it, enjoying it instead. Eric had never wanted to do anything ever, and now she had Dustin right there, willing to actually do something. When his hands began to travel, causing the red flags in her mind to raise again, she pushed the flags aside. She stopped herself yet again from pushing him away, instead allowing her hands to touch Dustin in places she would have never guessed she would.

Dustin was extremely pleased with her reaction and his confidence was boosted. He ran his hands all the way up her dress and grabbed her in places he had never been allowed to grab on his previous girlfriend.

By the time they hit what most would consider second base, Dustin was aiming for third, but Alyson pulled away for a second. It felt good, but she realized she might regret it later on. She wasn’t able to push aside the red flags this time. "Do you mind if we stop here for now? We could always do more another time..." she asked, a little embarrassed. Her face was flushed.

Dustin did mind. He kissed her neck and whispered in her ear, "No, come on. We've come this far, come on. We don't have to go all the way baby. Let's just go with it." He kissed down her collarbone and rubbed down her back.

Alyson shivered a little as he kissed her collarbone and rubbed her back. It really did feel good. "Okay," she agreed hesitantly. She felt conflicted about what to do, because she had always wanted all of these firsts to be special, not in a hidden hallway with a guy she wasn't even in a relationship with, but things did seem to be going well. Dustin had to resist the urge to smirk. She had already let him go farther than Haley ever had. He continued on full force.

After Alyson relaxed, Dustin kissed down her chest and began to pull her dress up. She squirmed, but he didn't relent. In his mind, she was his now. He was going to at least try to get some further action. With this in mind, he started to pull her dress up further.

Alyson gently grabbed his wrists to stop him. "Please don't," she begged him. "I'm sorry, I just don't feel comfortable going this far yet," she apologized, her cheeks flushed and her voice a little breathy. It's not that she didn't want to do those things, it's that she wanted it to be more special and after she was more serious with Dustin (or whoever the person was).

Dustin was determined. He grabbed her wrists roughly in return and forced them against the stone wall. He continued to kiss her chest up to the top of her dress. Technically, he had stopped what she asked him to do. He didn't let go of her wrists for fear of her trying to stop again. Instead, he moved them down behind her back so her chest stuck out a little more. He backed his face away and smirked up at her, then winked and kissed lower than he had been before.

Alyson took in a sharp intake of breath. This was right on the border of what she was comfortable with, so she felt conflicted. She squirmed again when he started to kiss lower, but she didn't stop him. He slipped his hands to the hem of her dress and began to try and take her dress off again, so she gently pushed his wrists away. "Please don't," she begged him again, feeling a little guilty. "It's not that I don't want to, just not like this," she explained.

Dustin actually paused for a second. Of course he wanted her now, and her reasoning sounded exactly like the bullshit Haley had told him, but Alyson had let him go farther than Haley ever did, and much sooner than Haley would have ever let him. He figured if he kept pushing her now he might never have a chance. He pulled away. "I'm sorry," he apologized, sounding sincere but not really meaning what he said. "I just got a little carried away in the moment."

"It's okay," Alyson told him. She was still uneasy, but she forgave him. After all, he did apologize and stopped.

Dustin knew that he was hitting his own tolerance level, so he took a deep breath and said, "It's getting late, and I'm not feeling so well anymore. Maybe we should call it a night." He was trying to hide his frustration with a fake smile that he hoped she couldn't see through. 

Alyson figured he wasn't feeling so well due to all the alcohol and the loud music. She had a bit of a headache too, now that she thought about it. "That sounds like a good idea," she agreed. "We should do this again sometime," she said with a smile, hoping he'd agree. She nervously awaited his answer.

Dustin nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that. Maybe we should skip the party next time, though," he suggested. They began to walk back to the Gryffindor tower. 

"Maybe. I'm sure we could have just as good a time on our own," Alyson said with a  
wink. When they arrived at the Gryffindor Tower, Dustin grabbed Alyson's hand then leaned down and kissed her. It was a half-hearted attempt, its only purpose to further her like of him, but he hoped she didn't realize that. "Good night," he said with a smile.

His half-hearted attempt worked. Alyson felt butterflies in her stomach when he kissed her. She thought it was so sweet. "Good night," she replied happily.

When Dustin was out of earshot, Alyson gave the password to the Fat Lady then went in the common room where she was faced with something she hadn't anticipated: Lidiane, awake and waiting. When Lidiane heard the portrait open, she stood up and faced her friend, eyebrows raised and arms crossed. "Hanging out with your sister? That's an interesting outfit for something like that," she said crossly.

Oh, shit. "I never told you what we were doing," Alyson defended lamely. She felt her guilt about lying to Lidiane begin to gnaw at her stomach again. She sighed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lied to you, I feel bad about that," she explained. "I just didn't tell you what I was doing because I didn't think you'd approve."

"And what was it I wouldn’t approve of?"

Alyson hesitated. "I went to a Slytherin party with Dustin," she said carefully. "My sister helped me get ready. I did hang out with her before the party," she added on.

Lidiane's jaw dropped. After recovering from the shock, she said, "You were out with _Dustin?_ The guy who calls you those awful names and who your friend just broke up with? Right after your breakup? _Seriously?!_ And don't even get me started on the fact that you went to a Slytherin party! Why are you dressed like that anyway?" She took a breath and narrowed her eyes. "What were you and Dustin doing? Were you drinking?" She lowered her voice with the last word. Alyson had immediately informed Lidiane of how she spent time with Dustin after Eric broke up with her. Lidiane warned Alyson to be careful with Dustin and not to ruin her friendship with Haley. Clearly Alyson ignored her advice.

"He _used_ to call me awful names. Not anymore. Plus he was raised in a pureblood house that encouraged that, he's nice to me now," Alyson defended Dustin. "I don't know the details of their breakup, but Haley's been a total bitch to me lately for no good reason." She was trying to answer all of Lidiane's questions. "We danced and...other stuff," she continued on. She realized she probably looked disheveled. "I may or may not have drank." She was still at least buzzed, if not somewhat drunk.

Lidiane snorted. "Other stuff. Hmmm, I wonder what kind of other stuff." She nodded at the dress again. "Alyson, I don't want to lecture you but, seriously, you just broke up with Eric. I mean, do you really think you're ready for all of this? It's not like you to drink is all I mean. Well, not at a Slytherin party." She was honestly concerned. There was something going on here that wasn't quite right with her friend. 

Alyson appreciated Lidiane's concern for her well-being, but she wasn't really in the mood for a lecture. She just wanted to go to sleep. "I think I'm going to go to bed now," she said, not responding to anything Lidiane said. "I'll see you in the morning, good night!" 

"I'm going up now too, but good night," Lidiane replied, figuring she'd bring everything up again tomorrow. The two of them walked up to the dormitory together, Alyson nearly falling up the stairs. Once they got to bed (Alyson with a bit of help from Lidiane), Alyson thought she'd be awake for ages thinking about everything, but instead she fell asleep at almost the second her head hit the pillow.

\---

“Why did you stop me?” Adam demanded from Haley. He was still livid over what Dustin did. “He’s a piece of shit, look at what he did to you!”

Haley nodded and dragged Adam out at the same time in order to get away from prying eyes. “Yeah, he’s a piece of shit,” she agreed as they walked, “and I know he deserves it. I just don’t want you to get kicked out of school for causing him to swell. I’m pretty sure you don’t know the counter curse.”

Adam sighed. “You’re right, you’re right,” he agreed in defeat. “Thanks for having my back,” he added on, giving her a slight smile. “Do you want to go somewhere more private?” he asked, wanting to take his mind off his anger.

They were already on their way to the common room, so they just agreed to go there. They reasoned that it was well after midnight, so everyone who wasn’t at the party would be in bed. Their prediction proved right when they got back; the large room was deserted. Adam lit a fire in the fireplace, and they plopped down on the sofa in front of it. He put one arm around her shoulders.

“Besides the…well, the bad stuff, did you have fun at the party?” Adam asked, using his thumb to gently stroke her shoulder. He was hoping this would end in a snogging session, but he wanted to ease his way in.

Haley turned and gave him a sarcastic what-do-you-think kind of look. He laughed and went to kiss her on the forehead. She dodged and made him kiss her on the mouth instead. Before he knew it, she was on top of him straddling his lap and kissing his neck. He was pleasantly shocked and started running his hands all over her. She didn’t stop him. 

Adam began to pull down her leggings. “Is this okay?” he asked, knowing that girls were more likely to go through with it if you asked that question. He looked her in the eyes with the most infatuated look he could manage, biting his bottom lip in a way that made him look too damn cute and sexy.

She nodded, looking him straight in eyes. He placed his hand on her private parts. She had never been touched there and immediately flushed red and got really hot. She kissed him with a new vigor. The sensation was electrifying for both of them.

Eventually they were both in a partial state of undress, and Haley found herself on the floor on her knees in front of Adam. “You don’t have to do this if you feel it’s too soon,” Adam told her, not really meaning it. He was only saying it to encourage her further.

Haley smiled up at him then kissed his abdomen and went down farther. He grabbed her hair and encouraged her to keep going. This night had gone farther than he expected. They spent the next fifteen minutes or so in this position.

When Haley was done, Adam gave her a big smile. He was glowing. “That was fantastic,” he told her enthusiastically, meaning it. “It’s your turn now,” he said mischievously, helping her up onto the sofa. He got rid of her leggings and proceeded to take care of her needs.

Haley had never been in a position like this. She didn’t want to go any farther, but at the same time she did. After Adam stopped, he came up and kissed her then sat next to her. He knew better than to push his luck. They both got what they wanted. Haley rested her head on his shoulder and just sat there in silence, although neither of them had many clothes on. It struck her suddenly that they were like this in the middle of the common room where anyone could come in. 

“Maybe we should put some clothes on,” Adam suggested with a bit of a smirk. He sat up picked up her leggings off the floor, along with all the things that went underneath. She took them and began to put them back on while Adam closed up his pants again and buttoned up his shirt some. “That really was awesome, you know,” he told her as he finished buttoning up his shirt.

“Yeah, definitely great,” Haley said with a big smile. She was glowing just like Adam had been. Her whole body was still flushed, and she was kind of dazed. Part of her realized that she had only just had her heart broken less than a week ago by the guy she thought she would be with forever because she wouldn’t do exactly this. That was a bad realization, and it hit her like a ton of bricks, but it only lasted for a few minutes. She had her clothes on, and they decided they should probably go to bed so no one caught on to their game. Haley went up to the girls’ dormitory without giving Adam a goodnight kiss, and found Mary sitting on her bed writing in a diary with a small smile on her face. “What are you doing up so late?” Haley hissed at her. She didn’t want to wake everyone else up.

Mary quickly shut her diary and her smile faded. “I was waiting for you to come up to bed. What were you doing out so late? I want the truth.” Haley had stayed out late numerous times, but now when she did it caused Mary actual concern, seeing as Haley seemed to be infatuated with her sleazy older brother. 

Haley immediately looked guilty. She walked over and plopped onto Mary’s bed. She crossed her legs. “I told you I was going to a party,” she insisted, almost rolling her eyes. “Why are you so worried anyway? I don’t think my parents would even care this much.”

“Because I know you like my brother, and you know how I feel about him,” Mary answered honestly. “Most everyone else isn’t even back from the party yet. It’s not like you to leave early without reason,” she continued, her eyebrows raised. 

Haley groaned. “Yeah, maybe we left a little early. You saw where we went, though,” she pointed out. “We just wanted some alone time.” 

“Did you just get back from the astronomy tower? What have you guys been doing all this time?” Mary realized she sounded like she was interrogating her friend, but she didn’t really care. She knew what Adam did to girls he “liked.” 

Haley groaned again and this time rolled over on her stomach with her face in the pillow. She knew what Mary was thinking because she used to think the same thing, but she knew she was different. “Geez, Mary, we went back to the party after we left the astronomy tower. Since you’ll hear about it anyway, I should tell you that Dustin, Adam, Alyson, and I all got into a fight of sorts. And that is why we’re back here,” Haley explained vaguely. Then she rolled back over and said, “Better question is, what were you doing on the astronomy tower?”

Mary blushed a little when Haley brought up the fact she was at the astronomy tower, but she wasn’t ready to completely change the topic. “What was the fight about? What was Alyson even doing there?” Mary asked, still concerned and also a little curious. “I was hanging out with Eric,” she added on as an answer to Haley’s question, revealing only a little bit of the truth.

“Well, Dustin got mad because Adam and I were, well, dancing, and he went to jinx Adam, but I got in the way, so I tried to defend myself, and then Adam tried to help but Alyson, who was there with Dustin, mind you, jinxed him and then disarmed Dustin…I think. The details are hazy,” she admitted. “Basically, Dustin is a jealous whore, and his harlot doesn’t mind. Anyway, since when do you like Eric so much? Adam may have believed you, but I know lovers when I see them.”

Mary blushed further at Haley’s question. She debated about lying, but Haley didn’t seem to mind. She still wasn’t quite done commentating on the events from the party though. “Oh wow,” she began, surprised by the whole story. “I can’t believe how much of a prick Dustin is being.” She then paused for just a second, thinking about how to answer Haley’s question. “I’ve always kind of liked him,” she replied carefully, “and these past couple of days we’ve been spending a lot of time together. You won’t tell anyone, would you? We want it to stay a secret, at least for now…we don’t want to create unnecessary drama.” She hoped her friend’s reaction wasn’t negative.

Haley rolled her eye, but she said, “Of course I won’t tell anyone.” Mary could smell the alcohol on her breath and hoped beyond hope that she would either forget this conversation or remember that she promised to keep it a secret. “You should probably lock the doors next time you try to hide, though,” Haley suggested, half asleep. Mary made her get up and lay in her own bed, where she fell asleep immediately.

Mary lay down in her bed and thought about everything. She was determined for Haley not to get hurt by Adam and for things to work out with Eric. After a little while she fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a couple consensual and dubcon acts, each involving two minors (two fifteen year olds then a fifteen year old and a seventeen year old). The acts are at a PG-13 level of description. There is also a heavy presence of underage drinking, and there is drug use between two minors (a fifteen year old and a seventeen year old).


End file.
